


Lost Season

by kyeian



Series: Flawless [4]
Category: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Drama, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 16:05:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9392654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyeian/pseuds/kyeian
Summary: Someone said something once about maidens and dragons...or was it maidens and vampires? I suppose there's an easy way to find out.  With Josh being distant, L finds herself invited to an exclusive ball. Ryan and Kevin join she and Brian for a genuine vacation. Non-canon (OCs).





	1. Chapter 1

#### Chapter One

 ***L**  
    I considered the ornate envelope that had arrived in my mailbox curiously, wondering why it'd been sent...without a stamp?  
    Oh, I hoped it had gone through registered mail...  
    I grabbed my letter opener and slid it into the corner—I'd watched Josh lick too many things with a naughty expression to want to chance envelopes. I'd found a cute little fake sword opener, and since I regularly received letters from Ryan, it was on top of my desk.  
    It looked like an invitation, and I wondered briefly if some friend was getting married. Or crap, maybe a family member.  
    I considered the pretty cover that gave away nothing, then folded it open to see a few pages of blank paper before finding the center and printed script.  
    _Ella Simone, please do us the honor of attending our annual Mayday celebration on May the first, beginning at seven evening_.  
    Seven evening?  
    I snorted slightly.  
    There was an address underneath that, and I considered it a long moment before turning to my laptop and typing that in. The invitation had remarkably little information on it. A small piece of paper slid out from somewhere inside the multiple sheets that noted that formal attire was required, and the venue was insured against jewelry theft up to...a lot of zeroes.  
    I stared at that number, tossing the envelope down as the venue's page opened to the Mayday Ball; the photo gallery consisted of pictures of stars and politicians. The final image was of Gable Bui sitting alone and proud on an outdoor bench. He was wearing an expensive suit, and for some reason had a cane. He was in a pose where both hands were folded around the top of the thing, but you could still see a red jewel peeking out between his fingers.  
    There was a knock on the door.  
    I glared at Bui's image a moment, then rose and moved to look out my peephole at Brian. The former bartender was wearing a pair of tailored slacks and shiny shoes, and for some reason had on one of those sweaters that had to belong to Ryan. It wasn't the pale one he'd originally gotten, it was a dark gray-green one that he'd shown up with after he'd gone to visit LA.  
    I pulled the door open a crack to look out at him skeptically.  
    "I'm supposed to convince you to come to the ball," he supplied. "For lots of zeroes. I will buy you pretty sparklies."  
    I snorted at that, unhooking the chain lock and stepping back while I looked at him. I made sure that my body language in no way shape or form was an invitation, but he walked in like any mortal should.  
    "Gable has a delivery service," he added, smiling at me and moving to dig into the fridge as I headed back for the couch. "He says that the postal service ruins the aesthetic of a proper invitation. The company only sees your address once, and since this is how they make their living they obviously don't do something creepy like steal your information—I'm pretty sure Gable has them investigated before and after each ball."  
    "That's not making this less creepy," I pointed out, taking the can he passed me as he moved to sit on the far side of the couch.  
    "I know, but I can't make it less creepy," he smiled at me, passing me his phone.  
    I read through the formal request the man had sent him to get me to agree, considering the end-numbers.  
    "Halfsies?" he asked. "And I'll buy you something sparkly and real that you can lose down the sink."  
    I snorted at him, looking back to the webpage. "What even is this? Isn't May day a pagan thing?"  
    "It's a fertility thing," Brian shrugged. "I'm not sure what culture Gable pulled it from, but I think there are a few of them that do it. Hell, Christianity threw zombie-day in the time-span so everyone stopped loving it so much."  
    I _spluttered_ at that.  
    He laughed delightedly. Neither of us were particularly religious, but that sort of comment couldn't be ignored.  
    "Come, though," he urged. "Gable will ask you to dance at least once, and otherwise, I'll dance with you. I'm going to be bored out of my mind."  
    "Unless you get to meet the A-list," I pointed out, spinning the laptop so he could look through the gallery.  
    He clicked through it, looking impressed, then met my eyes briefly.  
    "You a wizard now?" I asked dryly. "Ry said my mind was unicorns and fluffy clouds or something equally inane."  
    He guffawed at that, then shook his head. "I was debating if I wanted to tell you."  
    "Hm?"  
    "I've met most of those people a few times," he supplied, indicating the screen. "I mean, not the celebs so much, but..."  
    I considered him, focusing on his sweater a moment, then looked back to the screen.  
    "What's wrong?" he asked quietly. "I know my coming here to make money is kind of crappy, but...I mean, I mostly come to socialize and mention the money thing."  
    "I miss Ryan," I sighed, indicating the shirt with my head. "And I miss Josh."  
    "I think Josh is invited," he offered, thinking about it. "He still not talking?"  
    "It's hit or miss," I muttered, looking to my phone. "He has to be drunk to do it, but he's being a dick anyway. He decided that I don't care that he loves me...sent me a damn dick pic the other day."  
    Brian sighed, sobering entirely. "I wish I could do something to help him. He doesn't even talk to me anymore. I tried to get him to do lunch and he told me that I had a few dangling bits in the way. I thought he was joking around at first, but that was all; it was a wall."  
    I leaned against the back of the couch, feeling tears in my eyes again and wondering if sleeping with someone else _would_ help our situation. I wasn't so sure I'd still be protected by his love afterwards, though. Not anymore.  
    "Well," Brian sighed, gesturing to the laptop. "Don't worry about this. Gable didn't only invite you because he likes you. He knows you're my friend, so there's that at least."  
    I smiled slightly at him, debating if it'd be worth it. Going to that sort of glam party might be fun...but it just made me think of going to Secrets the first time and realizing the whole thing was about sex and drugs. It'd sounded exotic and exciting until I'd gotten there. Would this be any better?  
    My phone started ringing.  
    I sighed, leaning over and seeing that it said 'Ryan 2'. "Ry!" I said happily.  
    "It's Kev," Kevin returned. "Ryan's staring at an invitation we got earlier and I'm on my way to class. Call the house?"  
    "Alright," I agreed. "Have a good lesson."  
    "Thanks," he returned, hanging up.  
    "What?" Brian asked.  
    "He said that Ry got an invite," I blinked at my friend a moment, then hit the button to call Ryan's home-phone.  
    "Hey!" Ryan said happily. "Sorry, I didn't want to walk downstairs and he was going."  
    "No worries," I hit the speakerphone button. "I've got Brian here, too."  
    "Brian?" Ryan asked curiously. The connection seemed a little fuzzy, but not too bad. "Hey!"  
    "Hey," Brian leaned forward to look at the phone. "You got an invitation to Mayday?"  
    "Yeah, it's fancy," Ryan noted happily. "I'm invited as the guest of Gable Bui to attend the festivities of Mayday on May the one."  
    I snorted at that.  
    He laughed. "It also notes that I can stay at his hotel for free. Kevin and I both got official invites to stay at the hotel in this thing. Single rooms or a double."  
    "Cool," I muttered. "Get a double and me and Bry can crash with you."  
    "Still no Josh?" Ryan asked hesitantly.  
    Brian sighed. "No; he was invited, but I don't know if he'll come or not. I haven't gotten L's final say on this, so you should definitely come. If you come, she'll come."  
    Ryan snickered wickedly.  
    "Better be more'n once," I informed the bartender.  
    Brian _beamed_ at me.  
    Ryan laughed again, then sobered slightly. "Should I?" he asked. "I mean, I have no idea...this isn't to us as wardens. It's to us as people. I'll need help with formal attire, I'm helpless at it."  
    "That'll be fun to shop for," I noted, wondering if I could get him and Kevin to do a fashion show for me.  
    "I'm not good at formal," Brian noted with a concerned look. "Hoc is going to pick my outfit for me—maybe we can get him to help?"  
    "I don't want to bother anyone," Ryan said quickly. "I can figure it out, I'm sure."  
    "I'll see what Hoc says," he reassured me. "Is there any date for your stay?"  
    "It says that I can stay a maximum of nine days, eight nights," Ryan noted, obviously reading. "I mean...are we doing this?"  
    "I'm hoping so," Brian winked at me. "I'm going to be bored as hell if not."  
    I considered the invitation again, deciding I deserved this. Especially if Ryan came. "I want to," I noted. "I mean, I don't know about dresses or anything, but..."  
    "I need to double check with...um...Kevin," Ryan had sounded distracted as he started speaking, he hadn't been about to say his friend's name. "Call me back in about three hours?"  
    "If I remember," I agreed happily.  
    "Even if...Kevin...says no," Brian muttered, meeting my eyes, "you can come for at least the ball night, right?"  
    "It depends on my work shifts," he muttered. "I think I can, but they're a little harsher about taking time off. Like, I could be dying and they'd expect me to show up."  
    I realized, a bit belatedly, that they were talking about whatever organization Ryan worked with. I thought Josh'd called it 'the council', and I wasn't supposed to know anything about it.  
    "I just want to know if I can get L to RSVP," Brian supplied.  
    "I wish I could just do it," Ryan sighed. "But yeah, call me in a few hours and I should have more information."  
    "Alright," Brian did something on his phone. "We'll call back."  
    "Alright, later."  
    The call ended.  
    "Yes!" Brian jumped up and bounced around the room a bit. "I mean...it should be. I want to text Gable and tell him already."  
    "Don't, because if Ryan can't come I'll feel...whorey."  
    He blinked at that, then nodded his head. "I know, sorry, I'm just excited. You wanna go shopping? I can buy you a pretty sparkly for saying you want to go."  
    "Why do you want to buy me jewelry?" I asked skeptically. "You realize that's a girlfriend thing, right?"  
    "Aw, don't do that," he pouted at me, sitting down again. "I have a credit card, and Hoc was saying I should buy some small things on it and pay them off the next month. He says that if my credit score is good I can get house loans or car loans, you know? I might even be able to go to college."  
    "It is expensive," I noted dryly, studying his hopeful face and snorting slightly. "What kind of sparkly thing were you thinking? That doesn't seem to fall under the category of 'small things'."  
    "Well," he hesitated. "There's this store at the Galleria..."  
    "A mall store?" I asked blankly.  
    "I'm not loaded yet," he protested happily. "That'll take you RSVPing."  
    I started laughing at that, looking back to the invitation blankly.  
    He leaned over and pushed a few of the sheets aside...to show a URL. "Gable hates these," he admitted happily. "He says URLs lack the elegance of simplicity, and he didn't want to include the option at all. Hoc insisted because the celebs won't do it if it's not available."  
    I gave him a blank look.  
    "Sorry," he shook his head. "I've been sort of excited since they started planning. I'm going to be in the reception line with Gable. Depending on who wants to talk to him, I might go around with him a bit, but he thinks he won't need me that long. This thing is _huge_ ," he added happily, shifting so he could mess with the web page. "It's one of the biggest yearly events, and the venue gives him deals because the clients who rent the place are usually drawn to it because the social pages."  
    "Social pages?" I asked blankly.  
    "Uh, there used to be entire sections about the aristocats in..."  
    I smirked at him.  
    He blinked at me, evidently not noticing what he'd said. "Uh...Victorian newspapers or something."  
    "The forerunners of cat videos," I agreed happily.  
    He gave me the _blankest_ look I'd ever seen.  
    I started laughing hard, then focused on typing up the URL.  
    "What did I say?" he demanded, obviously thinking.  
    "Aristocats," I supplied. "That old Disney cartoon."  
    He snorted, giving me a look.  
    I laughed, indicating the webpage.  
    "Okay, I won't complain," he half whined at me.  
    I laughed and started filling out the information. I wasn't sure what I thought of Gable entirely, but I had to admit that Brian's enthusiasm seemed promising. If Ryan couldn't come, it'd suck, but how often in my life would I be able to say that I was invited to this sort of party?  
    I hit the submit button, and after a moment my computer dinged that I had an email. I clicked to see the confirmation email, then blinked as Brian's phone started ringing.  
    His eyes were _sparkling_. "Gable! How can I help you?" He listened a moment, smiling more at me. "Yes, I'm on her couch. We've been talking about it. Ryan has to check his calendar before he can agree. You didn't tell me he was invited." He listened again and laughed almost boyishly. "Well, friends confer with each other about this sort of thing. We like to plan our outfits, our time schedules..." he listened a moment. "I suppose you'd have to list it as a surprise or contact the person first. Huh? No, I'm thrilled. L and I are going to go look at a few shops and see what they have." He listened again, smiling briefly to me. "No, Hoc is taking me to be sure I get something suitable. I figured I'd ask him if he could help at least Ryan...huh?" He blinked, looking away from me. "I'm sitting on her couch. Yes...no, yes."  
    I smirked at him, wondering what the dragon was trying to ask him about.  
    "Maybe Hoc can come help her, too?" he nodded, then made a confirmation noise. "Alright... _what_? No. That is beyond our budgets entirely. I mean, I suppose I could use it for that, but that seems...no. Well," he hesitated. "Gable, the way we earn our money is intertwined with our morals and sometimes our self-worth. You giving us money to give us money is one thing, but the sort of money that would take..."  
    "What?" I asked curiously.  
    He shook his head, waving his hand at me. "No, it makes me uncomfortable to even suggest it to her."  
    I wondered if he'd offered me an expensive dress or something.  
    "Yeah, we can talk about it more tonight. Sleep well." He closed the phone and sighed tiredly.  
    "What?" I asked again.  
    "He said for me to buy your gown and he'd pay me back," he explained. "And he told me that if my credit had a limit, he'd give me a company card."  
    I smirked at that.  
    "I'm willing to do it if you want," he noted. "But keep in mind this is a gown you will wear _once_."  
    I shook my head at him. "I didn't say I wanted to do it, I just had the dollar sign eyes for a second. You're right, I can't accept that sort of thing."  
    He nodded, making a face. "I hate having to dissect the money morals for him, because if I say one thing wrong and correct it, I have to go over it all again with that correction from the start. You want to go? We can at least look around. I'll buy you the dress, a sparkly thing, and give you half of what I get."  
    "You don't have to do that," I reassured him. "Just give me all of it."  
    He grinned at me.  
    I laughed, rising and moving to get shoes. "And I don't need half, maybe a quarter. Buy me sparkly things and a fat stack, huh?"  
    "I'm not sure how long it'll take to get the money, I'll let you know and we can discuss how much you want. Right now I have about eight hundred fluid."  
    I blinked, turning to look at him. "Why that much?"  
    "Because I've got a kickass salary and no social life to speak of."  
    "Coming to see me doesn't count?" I pouted at him.  
    "It would, but you don't want to sleep with me."  
    I started giggling in spite of myself.  
    He grinned, downing the rest of his can. "Um, nude underthings," he looked away from my eyes. "I hate that I thought to say that."  
    I blinked, then pulled my shirt out to check which bra I had on. I realized that it was the cow-spot one under my...white...shirt. I smirked at him. "You don't like my moo-bra?"  
    He grinned at me.  
    I laughed, then turned to bounce into my room to change.  
  
  
***Brian**  
    Running around with L was fun. We ate, wandered through shops, and then she decided to play like I was her boyfriend when we hit the jewelry store. She giggled inanely at me about engagements rings, pointing out the most expensive ones before moving on to other thing.  
    The attendant gave me a curious look.  
    Stupid girl. She'd actually managed to fluster me with that one, I needed to figure out how to get her back.  
    It took her a while to decide between a bracelet and ring, and after considering that I'd just made bank for her agreeing to come to the ball at all, I bought them both.  
    She was actually leaning into me as we walked away, and I realized after a minute that it was because she was watching the ring—it was not one of the engagement ones.  
    "L," I complained finally, stopping to look at her.  
    She giggled, pulling back to study my eyes with her own sparkling ones.  
    I kissed her nose, rolling my eyes and passing her the little bag—she'd worn the pieces out, but the boxes and paperwork needed a thing.  
    She laughed, catching my hand and looking around. "What now?"  
    "At this point I'm half worried that buying you something works."  
    She guffawed, letting me go to stare at me with her hands on her hips.  
    I laughed, giving her a contrite look immediately. I wasn't some great thespian or anything, but I had thought to be an actor at one point. I used those skills with Gable to give him physical cues to things, but L was not the dragon.  
    "Sorry," I said seriously, smiling more at her and gesturing. "I want to go look at clothes. We can see if they have the tops I want, then swing through the formal stuff to see if anything catches your attention."  
    "Alright," she moved to walk with me again. "This is just...so pretty," she added, considering the ring again.  
    "I wonder what will happen when we get into the sunlight with it," I noted. "How much more it'll sparkle."  
    Her _eyes_ sparkled as she looked up at me.  
    I wondered if I should actually ask her out as we moved toward a Macy's. Her relationship with Josh had been in place when I'd met her, I'd known exactly what she was to him when he sauntered up to the bar with her in tow dressed in white. There'd been a lot between them when they'd saved me from Ethan...there was still a lot between her and Ryan at least, but Josh...  
    I couldn't really do it to Josh. Not without him there to make it messy and complicated. It was bad enough that Gable was still interested in her.  
    "You have friends, right?" I muttered as we got through the perfume section at the entrance.  
    " _What_?" she demanded, her tone disbelieving.  
    I realized that she was not privy to my thoughts and smacked a hand to my mouth as I started giggling. "Sorry! That sounded bad!"  
    "Of course I have friends," she noted, raising an eyebrow at me. "What the hell kind of thing is that to ask?"  
    "I'm woefully single," I retorted, heading for the escalator. "I was thinking I should ask you out, but then things would get complicated."  
    "Since you're still trying to convince me to have another man's child," she agreed.  
    "I am not," I complained. "I said my piece on that, and it'd be a dick move on my part since Josh _and_ Ryan exist in this little picture."  
    She cackled, bouncing where she stood. "Three at once! I don't think I could manage it!"  
    I _sighed_ at her.  
    She continued laughing about whatever mental image she'd conjured until we reached the head of the staircase, then thought as she put the tip of her thumb between her teeth.  
    "Can we talk yet?" I asked skeptically.  
    "I'm just...they're either skanky or with guys," she supplied, looking back to me. "I mean, Nita would be a good time, but she's sort of a good time for this sort of thing," she flashed the ring at me. "I try not to say it because that's bitchy as hell, but dollar signs get her off."  
    "I could use that once in a while," I noted happily.  
    "I'm sure you could find a prostitute that wouldn't be linked back to me, too."  
    I snickered at that, nodding. "Here, hold on."  
    We turned into the wall of nice shirts, and I moved to the pile I liked best. I honestly had enough shirts and slacks, but the slim cut fit better. Like the fitted slacks, I could wear the tops all day and be comfortable.  
    "This one," L stated, picking up a dark purple top that was out of the package.  
    "Huh?" I asked, blinking at her.  
    "Ooh, this," she corrected, picking up a striped one with that same purple color. "And look," she cooed, leaning over to dig out another one. "Here, take the sweater off and let's look."  
    "These won't fit," I pointed out dryly as she kept trying to push one of the open ones onto me.  
    "You know your size, right?" she asked, stopping to look at me. "Just take the sweater off and whatever shirt you have on..."  
    "It's the wife beater," I realized, a bit embarrassed. The shirt was on my mind because the one I'd had on was uncomfortable. I'd left it in the car and the sweater was my go-to as soon as I could after work.  
    "Good," she retorted, stepping forward and yanking the sweater up.  
    I spluttered at her as she stripped it off me, trying to duck away from the jewelry bag that was smacking my face. The store felt cold without the sweater, and I huffed as I took the first of the shirts she'd been trying to foist off on me. I moved over to the section's mirror as I buttoned the thing up.  
    "That will look good," she noted, coming up behind me and pinching the edges back so we could get the idea of my proper size. "And with a tie with teal? Or maybe something clashing like orange."  
    I considered the idea, frowning at my reflection. "Here, try this," she added, stripping the stupid top off of me. She'd set the sweater and bag on a nearby shirt display, and proceeded to take me through the process of trying on probably ten shirts as I tried to argue her out of it.  
    "Listen to your girlfriend," an older man noted somewhat fondly as he gathered up a few shirts from a nearby stack. "My wife tells me exactly what to get, and I get complimented all the time."  
    I gave him a look.  
    He laughed warmly, winking at L, then walked away.  
    "Yes, listen to your girlfriend," L agreed brightly.  
    "I thought we just talked about that," I protested.  
    L laughed more, then passed me the last of the shirts.  
    "I meant to pick up two shirts," I informed her dryly as I buttoned the last one down. "And then go look at dresses for you. I figured I'd sit there on my phone while you tried on ten or fifteen of them, why am _I_ the one trying stuff on?"  
    She laughed, then nodded her approval as she looked me over.  
    I sighed, turning to the mirror and stopping.  
    The color...looked good. It was a navy blue, which I tended to avoid. She shifted the back of the material, and I wanted to sigh as I realized that I had about three pairs of slacks that would go with it.  
    "This color suits you," she noted, tilting her head at me.  
    "I just avoid navy and white," I muttered with a sigh. "I don't think I'd wear it, even though it does look good."  
    I saw her eyes go sad in the mirror as she nodded, turning to pick up our stuff.  
    I frowned, wishing I hadn't reminded her of the asshole vampire. I moved to take my sweater from her and went to grab the proper sizes of the two shirts I'd liked beyond the blue.  
    "So, Gable knows a few designers," I noted as we headed for the formal area—I could tell she was ready to go, but I also wanted to distract her if I could manage it. "And they do this thing where they lend jewelry. If you want to feel like a starlet on the red carpet, I bet you he'd rent you jewelry that cost more than your apartment building."  
    She laughed at that, brightening.  
    "I have this idea in my head," I added, smiling at her as we stopped near the dresses. "Of you stopping everything when you come in, you know? Have all the hot actors coming to greet you while the actresses gnaw out their livers. One of the politicians might even rent you a flat somewhere to be their mistress."  
    She guffawed at me, evidently willing to be distracted.  
    "So you'll have to tell me what you actually like," I added, looking the area over. "Because I'm drawn to cleavage, and that's not actually helpful."  
  
  
***Ryan**  
    When I got the confirmation that Kevin and I weren't on rotation for the week around May first, I wanted to crow. I reported that the pair of us had been invited to the dragon's gala, and that we'd agreed to attend. I hadn't had a choice about being redirected to the captain, and I figured I was lucky I hadn't been given to a member of the senior council.  
    I'd had to explain why I'd been invited to the dragon's party, then why I was agreeing to go. I had to reassure the man that we weren't invited as wardens and would only act as wardens if the situation required it. We'd talked for most of an hour about the situation, because no one knew that L existed at all, or that the dragon's supposed new lover was actually a former bartender-friend that also happened to be my friend.  
    Of course, when I'd read him the actual formal invitation we'd been sent, he'd finally given over. The council was supposed to be allies with the dragon, and a formal invitation meant that refusal would be rude.  
    I flopped back on the bed, rubbing at my face. I'd half dozed after we'd finished talking, but the idea of going back to Vegas was exciting. I ignored the part of me that hoped Ethan would show up and let me beat the shit out of him again, and ignored the part of me that thought hunting Josh down and beating the crap out of _him_ would be satisfying...  
    "What's up?" Kevin asked as he stopped in the door and looked at me.  
    "We're free," I supplied, shoving myself up and blinking at him as I frowned around to the wind-up clock on the desk.  
    "Seriously?" Kevin persisted, perking up. "Like, both of us?"  
    "I talked to Captain Taylor for an hour," I agreed dryly. "I had to explain to him why we'd been invited—which was because we met up with him for the apprentices, and not because L and Brian. I had to explain that it was a formal invitation to us as people instead of wardens...but he was letting me talk."  
    "Do you suppose he'll realize that?" Kevin asked curiously.  
    "I honestly hope not," I grinned at him, then frowned at the phone.  
    Since we'd realized that L and Brian could call me, we'd bought a fifty-foot phone cord. The phone tended to sit on my nightstand.  
    "What?" he asked, looking around the room.  
    "I asked them to call me back in three hours and it's going on four."  
    "Go call them from the payphone," he suggested. "What do you want to do? Go early and stay the whole eight nights?"  
    I rubbed at my face, realizing I needed to shave again. "I'm not sure. I think they'll want us to, but I wanted to get us all in on it."  
    "Well, me being home now counts," he noted, grinning at me. "And do you think we can bring guests?"  
    "Probably," I blinked at him. "We'd have to do the single rooms, but we can double check the information. Why?"  
    "Collin might show up," he grinned at me.  
    "He alright?" I asked, sobering slightly. He'd been spending more and more time with us, which was fine since he was Kevin's twin, but it wasn't exactly normal.  
    Evidently, he'd gotten into some huge fight and his entire team had nearly been killed. He'd come to see us to take a break from it. Considering that we'd had a huge run around that ended in a _dragon_ showing up, I wasn't so sure he'd gotten the break from stress he'd needed.  
    "I think so," Kev frowned slightly. "It's part of why I want him to come. Besides, I think we should do single rooms so we can do things like find women."  
    "If Collin is there, how would you work that out?" I retorted.  
    "What's the likelihood of us both getting girls on the same night, honestly?"  
    I snorted at that, rolling my eyes.  
    "Why did you want to do the double room, anyway?" Kevin asked, leaning against the door as he raised an eyebrow at me.  
    "L wanted us to," I supplied. "I imagine so we could sit up and talk for hours. It'll be fine."  
    He nodded. "I'm going to start food, am I cooking for us both?"  
    "I'd appreciate it," I reassured him.  
    He turned and headed away, and I jumped hard as the phone rang.  
    "Hello?" I said quickly.  
    "Sorry, we were trying on dresses," Brian said happily.  
    "You need to do a saucy low-cut," I suggested.  
    He started laughing.  
    "So we're clear," I noted happily. "Barring something fun like a warlock showing up, we can come."  
    "Yeah," Brian noted beyond the phone.  
    I heard L cry out happily, smiling.  
    "So, I guess we can make plans, then," Brian noted brightly. "Hoc pointed out that you two should just do a rental place for suits."  
    "If they have my size," I noted dryly.  
    "Hm, yeah," Brian sounded almost smug. "I've never had to worry about that."  
    "It's okay," I reassured him happily. "We call you fun-sized."  
    Brian started laughing.  



	2. Chapter 2

#### Chapter Two

***L**  
    Waiting for Ryan to show up at my apartment took _forever_. I'd really wanted to go meet him on the drive in, but he'd refused and said they'd gotten some chick to print out a map for in the city. They'd been running on time from the last check-in, but I was incredibly impatient.  
    There!  
    I bounced down the stairs to the parking lot, stopping in confusion as I saw a pretty girl sitting in the passenger seat next to him.  
    He hadn't said he was bringing anyone.  
    "L!" he said happily, bouncing out of the car and around to hug me.  
    "Hey!" I said happily, hugging him hard and taking a moment to appreciate his solid presence.  
    "This is my sister Maddy," he noted, indicating her as she moved up to us almost nervously. "My Mom told me if I get her laid she'd better not be pregnant."  
    The girl squawked and hit at him, but he was already darting around me.  
    "Hi," I offered, extending a hand. "I'm Ella. Call me L, and don't worry, he thinks he's funny but not everyone agrees with him."  
    " _Thank_ you," she said, rolling her eyes. The pattern of exasperation in her voice was almost identical to his.  
    "We wanted to surprise you," Kevin noted happily.  
    I turned to look...at him.  
    There were two of him. He honest to god had an identical twin and they hadn't told me?  
    I looked between the identically smiling males, then turned my head to _look_ at Ryan.  
    Ryan laughed delightedly, moving up to my back and leaning against me. "One of'em's Kev, the other is Collin."  
    "One of'em?" one of them demanded, moving around the car to look me up and down with a smirk. "How well do you think she knows me?" he asked the other.  
    "It's me," the other noted, rolling his eyes. "Don't let him fool you."  
    "But she was the one that got me that coffee," the other said brightly. "The one I'd kill for."  
    "Which one is which?" I asked Ryan dryly.  
    "You can't tell?" he asked happily, wrapping his arms around me and sighing slightly. "Just ignore them and they'll both go away."  
    Maddy started giggling, kicking at him.  
    I watched as his attention moved to her, catching her foot so she squawked. They were playing along the sidewalk, and I looked back to see the damn twins standing side by side in front of me. Their body language was exact; their expressions almost mirrors of each other.  
    One laughed finally, offering a hand. "I'm Collin," he noted seriously. "It's good to finally meet you. Kev seems mostly exasperated by you."  
    I smiled, shaking his hand, then moved to hug Kevin. He smiled down at me, and I happily brushed my nails down his arm. Brian insisted I had kitty claws, and the gesture nearly cut skin.  
    "Ouch!" he protested, backing away from me. "It's really me! I'm serious!"  
    "Not only do I not believe you," I noted happily, "but that mark should stay at least the day, right?"  
    The other started laughing wickedly, moving back from me. "I'm serious, I'm Collin," he noted happily.  
    "It would hardly do me to give you both the same mark," I pointed out, smiling more and turning to see that the girl was giggling hard because Ryan had gotten her up around his shoulders and was walking back to us as if it was a duffel bag or something.  
    "Look at this," Kevin complained, extending his arm so Ryan could see the red welts. "She did it on purpose."  
    "Good," Ryan noted happily. "Brian will probably appreciate it when he gets here, too."  
    Kevin huffed, then tilted his head to look at the girl.  
    She giggled harder. She'd calmed and relaxed while we spoke, but started struggling again.  
    "How old are you?" I asked Ryan, raising an eyebrow.  
    "Twenty-four this summer, why?" he asked brightly, strolling around us toward the stairs as the girl started squawking again.  
    "He's ridiculous about his sisters," Collin supplied, his eyes sparkling as he looked me over. "It's how he became the destroyer, you know? He knows love."  
    "Real men snuggle kittens," Kevin agreed happily, turning to follow him up the stairs.  
    "I'm assuming they haven't been here yet," Collin noted, eyes still sparking as he considered me. "I'll follow you up."  
    "You should get contacts," I informed him happily as I turned to follow the others up the stairs. "This is disturbing. How did you do that without...are you..." I hesitated.  
    "I can call fire and freeze rain," he noted in an undertone. "The girl can't, but she knows we can. I think you know more than her."  
    I nodded, looking back at him as we reached the top. "How did you meet my eyes without that soul thing starting?"  
    "It's a skill Ry fails at," he offered happily. "I focus on your iris and avoid the pupil."  
    I nodded, though I got the impression it was more that Ryan didn't bother. "So you guys got plus one?" I asked curiously as they all waited around the door. I moved into the apartment, then stopped and looked between them all curiously.  
    "Uh, thresholds?" Ryan asked curiously. "As in we can't use our magic if you don't invite us?"  
    "Do you think you'll need your magic?" I asked blankly.  
    "I feel half naked without it," Ryan offered.  
    "Get half naked and we'll talk about it," I retorted.  
    Maddy started giggling hard, moving away from him as she almost blushed and studied my face.  
    "Come in, please, Ryan Halgar. Come in please, Kevin Ruix."  
    "That's a decent way to do it," Ryan encouraged me, tugging his sister past me.  
    "He said you were a bitch," Collin noted with _sparkling_ eyes as he stood there waiting for me.  
    "Apologize," I ordered. "For tricking me."  
    He laughed at that, then hung his head. "I'm sorry, I get jealous of Kevin's friends and can only act on it in certain ways. I won't ever do it if it's a serious matter."  
    I smiled. "Come in, Collin Ruix."  
    He gave me an amused look, moving into the little apartment and looking around. He had his hands in his pockets, and he slowed to look at me again.  
    "Hm?" I asked.  
    "We're meeting Brian here, right?"  
    I nodded.  
    "You're not going to call me on tricking him, are you?"  
    I laughed at that, gesturing it away and heading for my fridge. "I got drinks and snacks. Brian should be on his way over now. Um, if you have any electronics that need charged, I have a strip here," I added to the girl, pointing at my little table. "I don't imagine the tech gremlins will need that info, though."  
    The girl smiled at me and moved to the wall, pulling a phone charger and phone from her pocket.  
    "She decided that texting to her friends in a car with three wizards was a great idea," Ryan informed me happily. "As far as we can tell, only her battery died. She was about in floods about it for a little bit. Then Collin woke up and she dropped the drama."  
    "I was not being dramatic!" the girl stamped her foot at him. "And I told you I needed to talk to Amalie today. I didn't warn anyone and I'll be gone all week!"  
    Ryan gave me a look, but was avoiding my eyes slightly.  
    "You can go in my room and talk," I offered, pointing to the door. "Bathroom is there," I added, indicating the other room.  
    "Mine!" Maddy called, darting around us all to the bathroom.  
    "Sorry I didn't warn you," Ryan noted. "We passed my house on the drive...my mom's house," he corrected himself. "We stopped to pee. And yeah, we got a plus one. Didn't you?"  
    I turned to dig out my invitation, passing it to him as I looked the group over, then moved to drop on the couch. "Make yourselves at home."  
    "I was asking my older brother about formal clothes," Ryan added, moving to sit next to me as he passed the invitation to Kevin. "She heard, and I explained about the event. She went and looked at some website, then begged me to come."  
    "By beg, he means she gasped and said she wanted to come," Kevin noted, rubbing at the welts on his arm. "He told her to hurry up and pack for a week. Evidently she's off for most of it because of furlough days or something. She's graduating in June, so this is his graduation present to her."  
    "I get to buy her a dress," Ryan rolled his eyes. "Which leads me around to begging you to help her pick something...at least if you guys get along."  
    "How old is she?" I asked as the toilet flushed.  
    "Eighteen last week," he smiled at me. "This is a combo thing for her—she can come gamble a little bit and I'll get her drunk as long as the bartenders aren't paying attention."  
    I smiled at that, then winked at the girl as she gave us all curious looks. "Go ahead and lay on my bed if you want; the lamp is a charger one."  
    She beamed at me, taking the phone and cord and flopping onto my mattress.  
    "Can...I...lay on your bed?" Collin asked happily.  
    "I think Ryan might protest," I returned as casually as I could manage. "Man, Brian was talking threesome, but this got complicated."  
    Kevin _guffawed_ as Ryan started laughing.  
    "Leave the siblings out and we can have fun," Collin offered.  
    "You that close to Ry?" I asked brightly.  
    He laughed wickedly.  
    "He wishes," Ryan retorted, popping is can open and huffing as he flopped back. "I'm a little brain dead right now. I like talking to her but she talked the _entire_ drive."  
    "It was a veil of white noise," Kevin noted happily, moving to grab a chair from my table and situate it so he could sit facing us. "I got to sleep pretty quick with it. I still haven't worked out why we're _here_ , though, no offense intended."  
    "Brian has the authorization for the rooms or something," I supplied. "I guess Gable invited you two specifically to make him happy. I think it was to entice me to come as well."  
    "Yours is fancier than ours," Kevin agreed, passing the invitation to his brother as he drank more from his own can. "Are we doing a dinner tonight or are we doing our own things tonight?"  
    "I need to take her to the strip," Ryan pointed at my room as his sister started laughing. "She'll die if I don't; she's planning to take pictures of everything. I figure since we're not on the strip it might be harder to get down there."  
    "I think Brian knows a few places to park," I offered. "I mean, he'll have a better idea of things. I know malls that she'll love."  
    Ryan nodded, smiling at me.  
    The front door flung open and Brian bounced in with a bright smile, then looked between the twins.  
    They both beamed at him.  
    "You did it on purpose, didn't you?" Brian demanded happily of Ryan as he pointed at them.  
    "You can't tell us apart?" Collin protested happily. "How can you not tell us apart?"  
    "Look me in the eye," Brian retorted, leaning over toward him.  
    Collin recoiled.  
    Kevin started laughing.  
    Brian smiled, moving over to hug Kevin briefly, then looked at the welts on his arm. "Oh, hey."  
    "They were both trying to claim to be Kevin when they got here," I supplied. "I dissuaded them from the notion."  
    Brian laughed, moving to shake Collin's hand.  
    "How did you know?" Collin asked curiously.  
    "That laugh," Brian explained happily, moving over to drop next to Ryan on the couch and hug him briefly. "I've never heard you do it."  
    "How do you know them?" I asked him dryly.  
    "I told you that Kevin and his brother were in LA," he protested. "I said he was exasperating and we had fun."  
    I indicated Collin pointedly with one hand.  
    Brian grinned at me.  
    I huffed at him.  
    "Oh, hello," Maddy greeted happily as she stopped in the bedroom door.  
    "This is my sister Maddy," Ryan noted happily. "Just turned eighteen so I had to bring her."  
    "Hey," Brian stood quickly and moved to offer his hand. "I'm Brian Nelson. It's nice to meet you."  
    Ryan smirked.  
    I blinked at him as the girl went very slightly shy, tucking her hair behind one ear before shaking his hand and nearly blushing.  
    "This is the guy I was telling you about," Kevin said happily. "The one that was doing some modeling and then got hired into a high-end bar."  
    "Oh!" Maddy focused back on him with distinct interest.  
    "You told her I was doing modeling?" Brian asked skeptically as he moved to head back to Ryan, then hesitated.  
    "We were talking about the stepford boyfriends," Collin supplied happily. "I was trying to convince them that we needed to hit the club, but they got kind of...uncomfortable at the notion of taking her in."  
    "You don't want to go," Brian reassured her, shifting how he stood. "It's all about sex and drugs. You're pretty, so someone would probably vamp you."  
    She went shy again, looking briefly to Ryan, then ducked into the bedroom again.  
    "Stepford boyfriends?" I asked skeptically.  
    Collin smiled brightly. "You've seen the movie, right? They like, brainwash the wives or something, or make androids...I forget exactly. They're all like cloned from each other. Kevin was saying they were all pretty boys. I didn't believe Brian was one of them."  
    "Really?" Brian asked skeptically, pulling up his shirt to show the male his chest and abs.  
    "Oh, the scar is almost gone," Collin bounced up and moved closer to look. "How did you manage that?"  
    "Lotion and potion?" Brian asked curiously, stepping back from him. "I swear I will meet your eyes if you don't back off."  
    Collin cackled, avoiding the smack directed at him, then turned to _beam_ at Maddy.  
    The girl was still blushing a she looked at her brother with wide eyes. She'd evidently been standing there watching him as he lifted the shirt.  
    "What?" Ryan asked curiously, extending a hand to her. "The uniform he wore there was a pair of flimsy lounge pants, shirt cuffs, and a bowtie—like those stripper posters we were trying to convince you we'd take you to."  
    She laughed again, moving to sink to the floor in front of him, using his leg as a back rest. "They're dumb," she informed me.  
    "It's more effective not to laugh at them," I supplied. "That only encourages them."  
    She smiled at me.  
    Brian hesitated, then moved around to the final spot on the couch, looking us all over with a smile.  
    "We get to go to the strip, right?" Maddy asked, shifting around to look at her brother. "I heard you telling them I'd die if we don't."  
    "We can't," he returned calmly for no apparent reason.  
    "No!" she protested, shifting to her knees to glare at him. "You said we would! You even said you'd let me pick you a coffee! We should go down there now and find somewhere to eat."  
    "Brian can take you," Ryan offered.  
    Maddy nearly swelled with indignation.  
    "We can all go," Brian retorted, frowning at him. "I'm sure the others are all game."  
    "Nope," Kevin returned.  
    "Not gonna," Collin agreed.  
    I wrinkled my nose slightly at him.  
    He looked between us all with a frown, then looked to Maddy.  
    She was pouting.  
    Ryan started laughing. "Yes, fine," he muttered, gesturing. "If Brian's willing to drive, the three of us can go."  
    "What about us?" Collin asked skeptically.  
    "Nope," Ryan returned as his sister bounced into my bedroom again.  
    "Let me get my wallet," I muttered happily, moving into the room to smile at the girl. "I want to go, I was just teasing Brian," I added as I dug into my purse. It was hanging in the closet. I wasn't entirely sure why Kevin and Collin were into teasing her, but I probably shouldn't encourage them.  
    She smiled and hesitated slightly, looking toward the door. "Is he...gay?" she whispered.  
    I blinked at her. "No, why do you ask?"  
    "That sweater is Ryan's," she supplied, moving closer to me. "And he's cute like that, you know? Is...does he have a girlfriend, then?"  
    "Nope, was complaining about it the other day," I smiled at her. "I'm not so sure your brother would be happy if he found out you were asking."  
    "He can be overprotective," she rolled her eyes, though there were still pink spots on her cheeks. "I mean, Brian's his friend, though, right? So he can't be a bad guy."  
    "I have a sort of boyfriend and I like your brother, or I'd go out with him," I agreed.  
    Her eyes _rounded_. "Do you?" she whispered, moving over to close the door. "I wondered why he wanted to come so bad. What do you mean, sorta boyfriend? Long distance?"  
    "It seems that way," I frowned, brushing the thoughts of Josh away. "He's not talking to me right now."  
    "Ryan is here," she suggested sincerely as she started wringing her fingers together. "I don't want to be mean, but...I think he likes you, too."  
    "I have had the thought," I noted. "But I'm not ready to decide yet."  
    She smiled at me, looking impressed, then blinked as I grabbed a sweater. "It's like a thousand degrees out there."  
    "But inside the malls and buildings, it's cold," I shrugged happily, digging out the one I'd gotten on the strip with Josh for her. I'd carry it until she needed it, she wouldn't believe me until we were indoors. "Come on, they'll be nosy."  
    I pulled the door open, but before I could step forward, Maddy started laughing _hard_. One of the twins was bent over with his ear at the keyhole, and he was staring at me as if he'd been caught in the act.  
    I raised an eyebrow.  
    "You're suck a jerk!" Maddy declared, running and jumping at him. I didn't see what happened immediately after, but the laugh he responded with was a belly-laugh.  
    The pair were sort of wrestling with each other as they moved toward the front door.  
    Ryan grinned at me, rolling his eyes.  
    "What?" Brian asked.  
    "Changed out of the moo-bra," I returned.  
    He looked away without comment.  
    "The moo-bra?" Ryan asked blankly, glancing briefly at my breasts.  
    "Pig!" Maddy declaimed, pointing at him from the front door. "I call pig!"  
    "Honey, he's only looked once," I noted, moving to grab my keys from the counter. "That's actually good for him."  
    Maddy laughed and disappeared.  
    "She's cute," Brian noted, looking to Ryan. "You didn't tell me you were bringing anyone."  
    "My mom gave her cash so she can get her own room if there's one nearby," Ryan supplied. "You can still snuggle with me."  
    "She recognized this," I noted, tugging at Brian's sweater.  
    "I brought a couple more," Ryan noted happily, stepping back to wait for me. Collin was already down by the cars. "Couple washed ones, and the one I wore the other day. I'm assuming that your need for them is over, but..."  
    "Can I just keep this one?" Brian asked as they started down the stairs. "I wear it all the time, it doesn't look half bad with some of my slacks and stuff."  
    "I brought a couple," Ryan shrugged. "You can find one you like better, but you can't actually keep that one. It's a favorite and I've missed it."  
    "Oh, sorry," Brian blinked at him. "Why did you..."  
    "You needed it more than me," Ryan smiled slightly at him. "Now come on, we should head down..."  
    "No, we should check in," Brian corrected, pulling his phone out. "Hoc already called the manager to say we were coming."  
    "What are you doing?" Ryan asked.  
    "Calling Gable to tell him that your sister is here. He'll want to do something respectful for her...uh, you want to ride with me?" he asked me.  
    I nodded.  
    "It's my turn to drive," Ryan noted, pulling the keys to his car out. "So I'll follow."  
    I nodded, smiling at him, then indicated Brian's car with my head to Maddy.  
    She smiled brightly and looked to Ryan.  
    "Go ahead," Ryan reassured her.  
    She turned to look at Brain curiously.  
    "He's talking to his boss," I supplied. "Or something like that, anyway."  
    "Ah, he won't mind, right?"  
    "I doubt it," I reassured her. "He's friends with your brother. Did they tell you anything that's happened here?"  
    "Something about a couple apprentices and Ry getting in a fight," she thought a moment. "Then that his boss is a huge financial kingpin," she indicated Brian, "and that I had to treat him with respect—the boss."  
    "Yes," I agreed, wondering why they hadn't filled her in on the fun details. I smiled slightly at the thought. If I was understanding her correctly, she didn't know about dragons or vampires.  
    "Thank you," Brian beamed between us a moment. "Yes, I'm thrilled. That's so generous...you want me to come in early tonight? No? You sure? Thank you!"  
    I tilted my head at him.  
    Brian dropped his head back, then smirked between us and looked around to Ryan, who was sitting with his window open. "Guess."  
    "A suite for our very own?" Ryan asked happily.  
    "No, the model Avian is in the main suite, and the actor James Arb is in the other good one; no, he's giving you all single rooms. All four of you."  
    "Wait," Ryan protested. "We have the cash to..."  
    "He said that if you paid him the respect of trusting him with your kit, he'd return it," Brian bounced slightly, glancing at Maddy a moment.  
    "I'm not _his_ kit," Maddy protested happily. "But...free room? Seriously?"  
    "Seriously," Brian smiled at her. "Did they tell you that my boss owns the hotel?"  
    " _Owns_?" Maddy stared at him.  
    Brian nodded happily, then blinked at the pair of us. He turned to unlock his car quickly, gesturing for us to get in. "I suggest you use the money your mom sent to get him a thank-you gift. I know a wine that he likes. Get him two bottles of it wrapped up with a bow and he'll be thrilled."  
    "It's not...the same price, is it?" Ryan asked hesitantly.  
    "No, it's an average bottle, but his associates get him high-end stuff. It's good, but his favorite is...oh, sake!" he looked between us a moment, then shook his head and slid into the car.  
    "Sake it is," Ryan smirked at me.  
    I smiled back and we slid in.  
  
  
 ***Brian**  
    I tried not to watch Ryan's little sister walk, but she was wearing a pair of heels that gave her that happy little sway. I felt like an ass, but she knew how to rock the heels. She was chattering a little inanely at Ryan and Kevin, but she seemed to be having fun.  
    We'd checked into the hotel, where the manager had greeted us like royalty or something, and had bellhops run all of their bags up to the four rooms at the end of one hall. There was a fire exit there, but otherwise just a little table and sitting area. It wasn't quite the same as their own suite, but considering the names of people _coming_ to this party, it was better than I'd have expected.  
    I needed to get Hoc something, too.  
    It was good to be back with them as we walked along the strip. We'd gone into every casino and looked at so many ridiculous things that I was hoping the girl's choice in footwear would end the excursion sooner than later.  
    Hell, I still had to go do a few meetings with Gable.  
    I stopped.  
    Maddy turned to look at me, then moved back to grab my arm and carefully pull a shoe off.  
    "Did I call it or did I call it?" Ryan turned to smirk at the girl as she took the other shoe off.  
    "But they're _cute_ ," Maddy protested as she wiggled her toes. "I thought I had them broke in and the cement is hot..."  
    "Sit down," I urged, then scooped her up. She was light, and I realized that she smelled good as I carried her over to a low wall and sat her on it. I turned, expecting Ryan to have followed, but instead had to grunt as the weird bag he'd been carrying hit me in the chest.  
    "Sorry," Ryan said happily, indicating her with a hand.  
    I blinked at him, then turned back to pass the girl the bag.  
    She glared at him a long moment, then opened the thing...and pulled out a pair of socks and a pair of sneakers. I leaned forward to see that there was a shirt of some sort in the bottom as well.  
    "Your hair smells good," she noted.  
    "Sorry," I backed off. "I didn't think about that."  
    She smiled at me, rubbing at her feet a bit before pulling the socks on.  
    "Here," I muttered, stepping back and patting my knee. "You get the other sock on."  
    She smiled more at me, then sighed slightly when I started massaging her foot. It took her a second to get the other sock on, and I switched over to that foot as well.  
    "Don't baby her," Ryan complained. "It encourages her to dress like an idiot."  
    "It's a cute outfit," I retorted, moving to take the heels and tuck them in the bag.  
    "I told you," she muttered to Ryan happily, focusing on getting the shoes on.  
    "I'm about done, guys," L sighed.  
    "I have to get back," I remembered, looking to Ryan again. "Gable has three meetings tonight."  
    "Oh, shit," Ryan hesitated. "We need your car, though."  
    "Yeah, so we kind of have to go now," I sighed slightly.  
    The group nodded as Kevin or Collin rejoined us. I hadn't realized he'd fallen behind.  
    "Look," the guy muttered, moving to pass something to Maddy.  
    "Oh!" she gasped, popping up and moving to hug him hard. "You're the best, Kev."  
    "And don't you forget it," he agreed, kissing her temple. "Come on, get them on."  
    I frowned as she carefully focused on whatever she had. It must have been earrings, because she was fiddling with her ears. Finally, she turned her head so he could see the look, then turned so we could all see it as well.  
    They were weird metal shapes, but they were cute.  
    "Come on," Ryan noted, gesturing for me to start. "I'm not sure where we parked."  
    "Fall-back point, wasn't it?" L asked brightly.  
    "That was that casino," Collin pointed toward a building a ways up the road.  
    "But that was what it was before," L protested.  
    "It changes every time we come," Ryan supplied. "The bit at the hotel last time...the fallback point was the cars. It'll be that again back at the hotel."  
    She grinned at him.  
    We all started back at a faster pace, and I noticed the stand where Kevin had found the earrings. Maddy hung back as long as she could to look at the displays, but Ryan actually had ahold of her hand.  
    It didn't take us long to reach the hotel again, and I waved at them all as I headed directly on, hitting my autodial.  
    "Let me guess, you can't make it, you're at a show," Hoc said happily.  
    I laughed at that. "I'm not _that_ bad. No, I might be a minute or two late, though. I'm just leaving the hotel."  
    "He'd probably be fine with you hitting a show," he pointed out.  
    "I know, but he's got them their own rooms and everything, so I don't want to..."  
    "He doesn't see it as a problem," Hoc reminded me.  
    "I know, but he's meeting with Rachel Limen in a half hour."  
    "Ah, most likely to get eaten by sunset award," Hoc sounded amused. "Your humanity is unseen now, but when they write the history books..."  
    "About a dragon?" I asked blankly.  
    Hoc started laughing hard.  
    I grinned a bit, ending the call. I knew Gable would be more than willing to let me stay with my friends all night if I wanted to. I had to maintain my own morals instead of becoming the spoiled lover that everyone in the magical community thought I was, though.  
    The thought made me think of Maddy and how likely Ryan was going to be angry with me. He'd said she was eighteen, but she chattered at him like she was younger. I knew he was protective of her, but he'd completely let me take care of her randomly throughout the night. I was his friend, so he probably hadn't even thought about it, hell Kevin had kissed her temple as if she was _his_ little sister, and the twins had been teasing her delightedly the entire time. She seemed to expect it from them.  
    Well, no use worrying about it.  
    I reached the manor and parked, climbing out of the car and pulling off my t-shirt. I moved to the trunk to pull out a nicer one, smiling as Arkady wandered out to me.  
    "I wasn't expecting to see you for another hour," he noted happily.  
    "I have a work ethic when my boss gives my friends four rooms for a week," I supplied.  
    "Only a week?" he protested happily. "When Ishi's parents come to town they have the suite for a month."  
    "I only doubt that it's the suite," I retorted. "And they're from Russia aren't they? Coming here is less easy than my friends driving a few hours."  
    He laughed happily, watching me change shirts. "That's nice; is it new?"  
    "One of the ones L picked for me," I agreed, stepping back and looking down as I realized my shoes were sneakers. I sat quickly on the trunk to switch them over.  
    "You have a good time, then?" Arkady asked curiously as he drank some water and watched the terrain around us.  
    "It was great," I agreed happily. "They were all already at L's when I got there, so I hung out, then we headed for the strip. We were looking at the high end formal stuff in the stores, but none of it was price marked, so we decided not to try it."  
    He laughed at that.  
    "Oh man," I muttered, rubbing at my face. "He brought his little sister, and she's...nice," I muttered, rising and stepping back so he could make sure I hadn't missed something.  
    "Legs," he pointed. "And nice to look at, or nice with a face for radio, or..."  
    "Cute and sweet," I decided, thinking about it. "He said she was eighteen, so I'm sort of...I guess I can ask her to dance, huh?"  
    "Ryan likes you," he reassured me. "If he brought her and hasn't told you to lay off, that means he's okay with the idea."  
    "Unless he didn't think about it," I protested, heading for the house with him. "I mean, Kevin and his twin tease her and joke around with her constantly."  
    Arkady gave me a curious look. "Well, Kevin is his constant companion, correct? That means he probably sees her as a little sister as well. Ryan's the sort of man who'll protect his family, which means he's either fine with the idea of you being attracted to each other, or he doesn't expect any attraction to be mutual. I assure you that he thought about it before bringing his little sister with him to Las Vegas."  
    "From what I understand of it, she begged to come," I protested.  
    "And he'd only have agreed if he thought she was safe," Arkady shrugged. "And that goes back to what I said. Don't worry about it, make friends with the girl and dance with her. He'll step in if he thinks something is inappropriate."  
    I nodded, feeling slightly better about the whole thing. "Thanks."  
    He smiled at me, patting my shoulder, then wandered off to patrol the gate again, or whatever he did when he was stationed out front of the house.  
    "Hello," Hoc greeted me as I moved into the foyer. "You're not running late yet."  
    "I managed to miss traffic," I supplied, smiling at him and moving to check my reflection. "He in his office?"  
    "Yes, here," he passed me a tea tray.  
    I nodded, taking it and moving carefully up the stairs.  
    "I think I want to eat before patrol tonight," Gable was muttering as he considered a paper in front of him. "Something light."  
    "I don't know how to cook," I noted happily.  
    He looked up, smiling brightly at me and focusing on the tray. "I smelled food, it's not my fault."  
    "Please don't call me food," I teased.  
    "You're not much of a morsel," he reassured me happily as I set the tray down on the trolley. "You're on time. I wasn't expecting that."  
    "I thought I was running behind," I explained. "I wanted to warn you."  
    "Did you call?" he gave me an interested look. "I didn't have a message about it. How are your friends? I can smell the kit on you."  
    "The kit is an eighteen-year-old girl," I retorted.  
    "Your ages mean nothing to me," he retorted. "She is his kit, even if he's not her sire. It doesn't matter how old any of them are, what matters is that he'll protect her with his life itself...and she has a good taste in perfume."  
    I laughed, mildly embarrassed. "Shampoo, too."  
    "Ah! Are you attracted to her?" he perked up. "Is that age within your range? I forget the legalities of human interactions, but now I see why you insist she's not a babe."  
    "I did that, huh?" I asked, making a slight face. "I'm trying not to think about it too much. She's a bit young for my range, but...I am attracted to her," I sat across from him. "You can smell her on me? I didn't think you'd be able to."  
    "I can smell a mix," he noted, thinking about it. "L, Ryan, the two one, and something new."  
    "The two one?" I asked with interest. "The term used commonly is twins, they don't consider themselves one entity, even if they act like it half the time."  
    "So giving them their own identity," he considered it a moment. "I'll have to consider that some more and maybe talk to Hoc about it."  
    "Well, giving them their own rooms is a start. They were extremely happy about it. They're good, too, all of them."  
    "I'm glad of that," he noted, turning to pour himself some tea. "Have they chosen outfits yet?"  
    "Hoc and I are going to take them tomorrow," I supplied. "At least the males. I believe after Hoc leaves we'll be going to look for female outfits."  
    "That should be entertaining," he noted, tilting his head. "Do you imagine I can come along?"  
    "I'll have to ask them what they think," I muttered, feeling a flutter of nerves. "Though I do feel I should note that pointing out the attributes that...pertain to maternity will be disapproved of, especially with Maddy."  
    "I'd hardly consider a kit," he pointed out.  
    "She doesn't look that much younger than us," I noted. "She's a fully developed woman who could carry a child if she mated. I'm not sure you'd notice the age difference."  
    "Ah," he nodded, thinking about it. "So forewarning me," he smiled. "Thank you."  
    I smiled back, moving to pour myself some tea. "Did you see the appointments I'd made for tonight?"  



	3. Chapter 3

#### Chapter Three

***Ryan**  
    It was good to be with L again, and fun to have Brian around again. I was a little smug that Maddy seemed to like Brian, and wondered if he was being nice to her or actually liked her as well. I wasn't going to press them on it because that'd lead to me getting in trouble.  
    I wasn't entirely sure what I thought of renting a suit, but buying one would be ridiculous. The man Hoc was the man who'd greeted Kevin and I after the other man had accidentally kidnapped us from Excalibur. He'd been the one who'd judged the crap out of us for being in street clothes, and while I hadn't expected to like him, he actually seemed pretty nice. He was honest about the suits we were trying on, and actually managed to talk Kevin and Collin out of wearing the exact same color. He bickered with Maddy about colors to the point that I thought they disliked each other, but then he'd turned around and asked for her opinion.  
    It was a pretty good afternoon, though the attendant was a little flustered that we only had two days before we needed them. I'd thought it'd be a problem to get me a properly fitting suit, but they actually had it in stock. By the end of the outing, all three of us had our outfits, including shoes, in zipup packages in the cars.  
    Hoc left at that point, noting that it was well past his bedtime and promising Maddy a dance.  
    I wasn't sure I approved of that.  
    Of course, I was a little more worried that the _dragon_ was coming with us to look at dresses for L and Maddy. I'd been overruled on the matter entirely, and I was fairly certain that it was because Collin was an ass and for some reason L liked his sense of humor.  
    We moved into the store we'd agreed to meet the man in, and realized he was already sitting at a comfy little couch with a cup of tea held delicately as he laughed with the attendant.  
    "Oh! Wonderful!" she greeted us happily, bouncing up. "Are we looking at dresses for both of you?"  
    "Yes," L agreed happily. "Give us just a second."  
    "I'll get some rooms set up," the woman said quickly. "Mr. Bui had a few ideas for gowns that I'll pull so you can give me your input."  
    L smiled and nodded after her, then turned to look at the dragon.  
    Bui smiled as he stood, bowing formally to L. "You look lovely this afternoon."  
    "Thank you," L returned easily. "I'm glad to see you're doing well."  
    He nodded respectfully as he studied her eyes intently. It made her blush and look away.  
    "This is my sister Maddy," I noted quietly.  
    "Madeline," Maddy corrected, giving me a brief look as she stepped forward. "I'm Madeline..."  
    "And she asked me to come," I cut her off before she could give him her name. I'd told her not to do it a thousand times, and it didn't matter that she didn't know he was a dragon. I'd _said_.  
    "Miss Madeline," Bui said, bowing slightly to her as his eyes sparkled in amusement. He understood why I'd cut her off. "I'm glad you were able to attend. If you'd like, I can introduce you to such men as James Arb."  
    She squeaked, pressing her hand to her mouth.  
    Who the hell was that supposed to be?  
    "I'll gladly introduce you to men of consequence, and be sure that your picture with any one of them is displayed on the website...so your friends believe you."  
    Maddy laughed delightedly, bouncing forward to hug him.  
    He looked startled.  
    I studied the dragon intently, watching him for any signs of attraction. I was _not_ going to allow him to ask her to have his children, and I was not going to _let_ him wander off alone with her.  
    Brian snickered.  
    "Hm?" Bui looked around to me and blinked.  
    "Sorry," Brian said happily. "He's concerned for your intentions and trying not to be. He respects you, but he can't help it."  
    Bui smiled brightly around to me, stepping forward to offer his hand. "I'd be happy if you and your friends would join me for supper tonight."  
    "If it's past Hoc's bedtime, how are you up?" Collin asked curiously.  
    "I've opted not to have any meetings this evening," Bui explained easily. "After we eat, I'll return home and nap."  
    "Do you stay up all night?" Maddy asked brightly.  
    "I do," Bui looked back to her. "I usually find my bed by eleven in the morning and sleep until around nine. I've met your brother before, however, and enjoy the company of his fellows," he indicated the group of us with a wave of his hand. "Now, ladies, Brian tells me that I can't spend my money on you, even though I want to. If you find a gown that you'd like to wear that is beyond your price range, I'm more than willing to help."  
    Maddy _beamed_ at him.  
    "I think we can find something fine in the price range," I informed her pointedly. "Good Mr. Bui is already providing us with _two extra rooms_ for no cost."  
    Maddy's little bubble burst and she nodded at me, then smiled back at Bui before turning with L to follow the attendant.  
    "Did he just tell her no?" Bui asked Brian blankly.  
    "Yep," Brian agreed.  
    "I want to treat your sister," the man protested to me as he sat again. "What's the point of going to a world renown gala if you're limited? The girl is lovely, I'm glad..." he glanced to Brian briefly, then looked back to me. "I'm glad you brought her."  
    "I'm starting to think I shouldn't have," I admitted.  
    "Something something maiden, something something dragon," Collin agreed happily, sitting down next to Brian happily. "Grind the bones and make the bread."  
    "That would be an ill flavor," Bui blinked at him. "And was that an insult?"  
    "Not intended for you," Collin smiled at him. "I hold you in the upmost regard, I'm making a joke at Ryan's expense. There are fairytales of maidens being sacrificed to dragons, so stepping away from you personally, the setup is..."  
    Bui laughed, nodding his head in approval before looking curiously back to me.  
    "It goes back to it being you, though," I pointed out as I took one of the chairs. "How are you? Is your business going well? Your staff?"  
    "All good, all blooming," the man returned easily. "I got a letter from your council asking why you hadn't been invited as wardens, I've not yet responded. I want to tell them that their issues with the setup have nothing to do with me, but..."  
    "How nicely can you say that?" Collin asked curiously.  
    Bui grinned at him. "Hence waiting to talk to you first."  
    Collin laughed.  
    Without the females on hand, it was comfortable to sit and talk with the man. We'd figured out his levels of formality while eating supper with him in LA, so we were able to pass the time pleasantly.  
    "If any of you laugh," L said seriously as she came from the changing area, "I'll put these heels where the sun don't shine."  
    Bui stood, his eyes appreciative as he looked her over.  
    The dress was silver and hung to her knees. It looked good, but she didn't quite look comfortable in it. She fiddled with the matching clutch as she looked us all over, then tilted her head to me.  
    "I don't think you like it," I offered, moving forward to offer her a hand up on the little display step thing. "It looks good, but you don't look happy."  
    "I like the dress alright," she returned, focusing on the mirrors. "But the shoes..."  
    "Could you wear flats with it?" Kevin asked curiously as he considered the shoes. "I have to say those are hot, though."  
    "Right?" she turned her foot so we could all see the chains hanging down around the heel. "I love that, but..." she flicked it.  
    Bui sat, looking away entirely.  
    I smiled at that, realizing that the dragon found the look appealing; I had a feeling he thought the shoes were kickin' too.  
    "What?" she asked, frowning at me.  
    "The shoes are kickin'," I supplied.  
    She kicked _at_ me, starting to laugh. She had to catch my arm quickly when her balance went, and I smiled up at her with interest.  
    "I suggest you forgo the kicks," Collin offered happily. "Or maybe the shoes entirely."  
    L laughed again, using me as a balance to step out of the shoes and sigh sadly at them.  
    "They're great, but you have to walk around," I noted.  
    She nodded with a slight sigh, turning to look at the mirror again. "The dress?"  
    "You still don't look like you like it," I noted. "I'm pretty sure you'll look good in anything you put on, so try something else and think about it."  
    She nodded, then gave me a perplexed look.  
    I pointed at Maddy as she came happily bouncing from the changing area in the stupidly high heels and a cute little dress that showed far too much breast.  
    "I have boobs, Ry," she informed me brightly, bouncing to join us, then hesitated as she saw the rest of the group.  
    "You do not, you're ten," I retorted.  
    Maddy laughed happily as L grabbed up the heels and bounced away.  
    "I think it looks good!" Kevin called after her.  
    L started laughing, disappearing.  
    "That gown is marvelous," Bui told Maddy happily. "Brings out the lady in you."  
    "Brings out the boobs on her chest is what it does," I retorted, frowning at her. "You're not a slut, don't dress like one."  
    "Stop being so big-brother," she retorted, stepping onto the platform and turning to consider the dress and shoes.  
    "How are you going to do your hair?" Kevin asked, looking bored.  
    "Up," she blinked at him. "Always up. Why?"  
    "Pull it up," he urged me.  
    I shrugged, reaching up and arranging her hair into a sloppy bun, holding it with one hand.  
    "Oh," Maddy blinked as the skin of her chest and shoulders was bared, pulling away from me and tugging at the top of the dress. "I guess..."  
    "We only have two days," Kevin added. "We can't really do a tailoring."  
    Maddy sighed and nodded, brushing my hands away. "You need to put it up like that for me on the night."  
    "It's never worked," I complained.  
    "Well, here," she retorted, stepping off the platform and turning her back to me as she passed me a hair band. "Do it now."  
    I huffed at her, debating if I wanted to argue or not. I decided against it, doing what I could to hook her hair in the bun.  
    "Thanks," she kissed my chin, then waved to the rest and bounced off.  
    Brian and Bui were blinking after her.  
    "The destroyer knows love," Collin supplied happily. "He knows the precious things he protects."  
    Bui nodded respectfully.  
    "You should make greetings cards," Brian informed him.  
    The pair started bickering happily as I moved to flop in the chair again.  
    "Am I to understand that you've helped ladies dress shop before?" Bui asked curiously, sipping more at his tea.  
    "Mostly just Maddy," I agreed. "She's had a few dances, and she complains about me being a big brother, but the one time she wore the revealing dress, she regretted it."  
    He nodded, thinking a moment. "Should I reassure you that I consider her your kit?" he asked curiously. "I saw your offense when she hugged me."  
    "My instincts to protect her label you a danger to her," I supplied. "In an emotional sense."  
    "Don't talk about this right now," Brian urged, blinking at me. He was leaning between the dragon and the couch back, and turned his head to look at the cup. "What is that?"  
    "Tea," Bui blinked at him. "Do you mind? This is a bit uncomfortable. I'd allow you under my arm but I think your pride would refuse."  
    Brian smiled brightly at him, pushing away. "Sorry, I need a few feet between me and the tech gremlins to check my phone," he kicked casually at Collin.  
    "Come on the far side of me," Bui suggested, indicating the arm of the couch beside him.  
    Brian slid off the couch and around the dragon easily, starting to mess with his phone.  
    "Dragons are supposed to be scary," Collin smiled at the man. "Why aren't you scary?"  
    "I'd need to be angry to be scary," Bui returned easily. "And I'm quite comfortable at the moment."  
    Collin smiled more.  
    "What _is_ it?" Brian demanded, leaning over to sniff at the cup.  
    "Licorice and honey," Bui swatted casually at him. "Have the woman bring you some if you're so interested."  
    The attendant moved back out to us with L in tow.  
    "Can I get some of this tea?" Brian asked curiously, indicating the cup. "It smells marvelous."  
    "Of course," the woman turned to scurry off.  
    L moved onto the stand and posed for us.  
    Kevin smirked at her.  
    "This is sort of safe," she noted, turning to look at the mirror. "It doesn't look bad or anything, but it'll do if there's nothing else."  
    "It's hardly glamorous," Bui protested, rising and moving to look it over. "As you say, a safe choice."  
    "I'll try the one you picked next," she muttered, turning to consider herself again. "This is also a maybe."  
    "I told you you'd look fine in anything," I reminded her.  
    She smiled at me, allowing Bui to help her off the platform, then disappeared down the hall.  
    "Is this a contest?" Bui asked me curiously.  
    I blinked at him.  
    Brian started laughing. "Not consciously."  
    Bui smiled brightly at me, then turned his head.  
    I blinked, since he'd obviously heard something, then noticed Maddy coming out of the fitting rooms a little nervously. She was wearing a well fitted top with a high neckline, and a skirt that fell just past her knees. It was black, and for a wonder it didn't scream to the world that she had boobs and wanted boys to look at them.  
    I smiled, standing and offering her a hand.  
    She smiled nervously back, moving around Bui and onto the platform as she frowned at her reflection.  
    "That's lovely, My-D," Kevin said seriously. "Those shoes you wore last night would even be cute for it, we'll just have to work out some way to avoid blisters."  
    "It's not...it doesn't pop," she muttered, turning to look between the twins.  
    "It doesn't focus on sex appeal," Collin supplied. "If focuses on you as a woman to be respected...can you take pictures?" he asked Brian.  
    Brian, who'd been blinking at her, nodded quickly, rising and pulling out his phone. "Stand with Gable," he suggested. "He's already in a suit."  
    Maddy smiled slightly at him, moving to step off the platform as Bui rested an arm around her waist. They stood there a moment before Brian joined them, and Maddy made a noise as she considered what she was seeing.  
    "Try on the rest of them," I urged her when she pulled away. "Barring something that you die for, this will be elegant."  
    She nodded and smiled at me, then at Kevin. She wandered away.  
    "She smells good," Bui noted.  
    "Nix," Brian whispered quickly, glancing at me.  
    Yeah, probably a good idea.  
    "You like her shampoo, though," Bui protested, looking around at us. "Is it that inappropriate to notice these things? Don't you all notice them?"  
    I snickered, not envying Brian the job of explaining. The younger male was blushing slightly.  
    "Not as much as you do," Brian said quickly. "We don't have the same sense of smell by half."  
    "But his scent is reassuring to you," Bui was almost whining as he gestured at me. "How do you mean you don't..."  
    "When we're in close and personal we smell that sort of thing," I supplied as Brian blushed more. "Standing like this, I can't smell anything but the shop itself," I gestured. "Nothing distinct. And the problem with noting that my sister smells good is that it makes me think you're thinking too much about her. Which means you're interested in her, which means she could get emotionally hurt. It's irrational, but it agitates me and I can't help it."  
    Bui calmed down slightly, nodding as he thought. "I see. My apologies. I meant my comments only as compliments."  
    I nodded, feeling relieved by that. "I apologize as well."  
    He smiled at me again.  
    "What are you doing?" L asked curiously as she swept out in a full length gown with a halter top.  
    "It's too hot outside for that," I noted, blinking at her.  
    "It looks nice, though, doesn't it?" she smiled between us all as she stepped onto the pedestal, turning to admire herself in the mirror.  
    "The colors suit you tremendously," Bui offered quickly.  
    I had a feeling that it was going to take L an age to find a dress she liked, and I wanted the trip to be done with since we actually found a dress for Maddy. I also wanted Bui to go away because L seemed to actually appreciate his honesty. It was irrational, right?  
    Brian smirked at me.  
    "Here's the tea, sir," the woman noted happily as she set a cup on the table near where Brian had been sitting. "And that is a lovely thing."  
    "I know," L turned to look at her with interest. "Is there any way you have it with a short skirt?"  
    The woman thought as she looked the store over. "We might," she decided, turning. "Let me go look."  
    "You do like it, then?" Bui asked her seriously, studying her eyes. "I do apologize, I made a few suggestions, but don't want you to feel obliged at all."  
    "It's comfortable," L reassured him, looking back to the mirror. "And with a few sparkly things, I'll look good."  
    "You look lovely," Bui promised quickly...before I could say it.  
    L smiled at him, then turned to look at the rest of us.  
    "You have shoes to match, right?" Collin asked helpfully. "I'm sure Ry will love to go help you with that; me and Kev can take Maddy back to town so you have free reign."  
    L started laughing delightedly.  
    "I hate you," I noted to my friend's brother easily.  
    Kevin snickered.  
    "I'm willing to go," Bui said easily, looking back to L. "If you have such a need."  
    "I have some nice shoes that Josh got me," she muttered, looking down. "They'll be nice with this."  
    Bui looked slightly disappointed, nodding.  
  
  
 ***L**  
    The days following the shopping were spent wandering around malls, shopping centers, and museums. Brian was in and out of it all, and seemed in a good mood. It was fun to laugh and joke as we wandered from place to place, and we would return to my house for food.  
    Brian seemed to really like Maddy, and I realized belatedly that all of the males were going to the bar at the hotel after they got home to drink and hit on women.  
    It made me sad at first, until Collin happily informed me that Ryan wasn't hitting on women, he was mostly there drinking with them until they started. That made me feel bad in a different way, because I knew he liked me.  
    It was a mixed up snarl that I couldn't comb out myself. At the most, I'd be able to cut it off, metaphorically, but the idea of just ending everything with Josh made me want to cry more.  
    The day of the event itself, we all slept in as best we could. I got there during the height of the afternoon heat, and moved quickly from the sunblasted lot to the casino with my dress over one shoulder.  
    "Miss Simone," a doorman greeted me with a bow. "Allow me to take this up to...Mr. Halgar's room?"  
    "I can do it," I reassured him, smiling slightly and wondering why he knew my name. I'd just started thinking that maybe Gable wasn't entirely creepy, but this?  
    "As you wish," he agreed, ducking his head to me.  
    I smiled and moved to the elevator, sliding in with a group of other people.  
    "Are you delivering a dress for Avian?" the woman near me asked curiously.  
    "No, this is mine," I returned, blinking at her.  
    "Drat," she muttered. "It's running late; I was hoping..."  
    I shrugged at her.  
    "Who is that for?" she added, looking back to the package. "Is it for the Mayday Gala?"  
    "Yes, but it's mine," I returned, tilting my head at her.  
    "But who are you delivering it to?" she protested.  
    "I'm not delivering it to anyone," I retorted. "The dress is mine."  
    "Who are you?" she asked blankly.  
    "Not Avian," I retorted as the doors opened to my floor.  
    "Well, that's obvious..."  
    "Are you coming to the party?" I asked as I stepped out of the door. "Because I was invited directly by Mr. Bui himself."  
    She snapped her mouth shut, blinking at me.  
    That was annoying, I rolled my eyes and turned to walk down the hall. I shoved into Ryan's room since it was being propped open by the latch thing, only to find that it was empty.  
    I rolled my eyes, hanging the dress in the closet and moving to flop on the bed to text Brian about the annoyance.  
    My phone started ringing from Maddy's number.  
    "Yo, I'm on the bed," I noted.  
    "Aren't you supposed to be coming over?" Maddy asked curiously.  
    I waved my foot at Ryan in greeting as he pushed through the door. "No, I'm on _his_ bed. You coming over?"  
    "He was freaking out," Maddy noted happily. "I'm trying to keep you on the phone long enough for him to get close and kill it."  
    I started laughing and ended the call, sitting up and rolling my eyes. "You won't _believe_ what just happened in the elevator."  
  
  
 ***Brian**  
    I was disappointed that I had to go with Gable instead of meeting up with my friends, but when we arrived at the place to see them setting up body scanners, I realized that I might be lucky after all.  
    I followed after the dragon and Hoc as they signed off on things and the party planner spoke in a quick undertone about everything going on. He smiled at me before he moved back into the venue, and I looked around again as I waited to be needed.  
    "Come along," Gable muttered as he started walking toward the back of the building. "It's time for us to eat a bit and settle before the reception line starts."  
    I nodded, following him into a little lounge looking room that was most likely for staff. There were two containers of fast food there, and I opened them as he sat down and blinked.  
    "What's the matter?" he asked, leaning forward to look. "I asked Hoc to order for us. Is it not right?"  
    "No, it is," I said quickly, turning the containers so he could see. "They're both the same thing, though."  
    He smiled at me, taking one of them and a plastic fork to eat with.  
    I moved and got us both bottles of water from the little vending machine, sitting next to him.  
    "I invited some thousand people," he informed me. "I believe the final count was only five hundred."  
    I _stared_ at him.  
    "Many of them or politicians or friends," he added quietly. "Though the glamour of the affair attracted any number of actors and models. There are some singers coming as well. Don't worry, I only sit for the greetings until I'm bored of it, and anyone who comes after has to find me. There will be a few photographers about, don't let me forget my promise to the young lady about getting her picture on the gallery."  
    "I'll remind you if I need to," I reassured him.  
    "When your friends arrive, I'll allow you to go off with them," he added. "Please keep an eye on your phone, because there may be an instance."  
    "Are you sure?" I pressed. "I appreciate how thoughtful you are of me, always, but..."  
    "Tonight shouldn't be an ordeal," he shrugged. "The people who will be talking with me are the fake sort."  
    I nodded again, focusing on eating. He continued explaining small details to me that mostly seemed obvious, but I was glad for his clarification. Hoc came and went with a carton of food in his hand, and finally showed up with a few little bags that contained toothpaste and mouthwash for us.  
    We headed from the little lounge area to a shaded part of the garden that had an ornate little bench.  
    "Half of them think you're just a little pet," Arkady noted happily as he patted my back. "Be their king, huh? Remember, Gable relies on _you_ , not them."  
    I smiled slightly at him.  
    He turned to start away, then stopped and looked back to me. "Ishi wants to dance with you."  
    I smiled at that, watching him leave.  
    "And so it begins," Gable muttered as he sat in the prominent spot and patted the bench next to him.  
    It was incredibly boring to sit there. Gable wasn't introducing me to anyone unless they asked about me, and the majority of them didn't ask. The line was sporadic at first, with small groups coming in, until finally an actual line started. I could hear the music in the distance as people laughed and chatted, and realized with some amusement that the sun was setting behind us.  
    We were most likely bathed in light.  
    I really hoped that L and the others showed up soon. I spoke with an actress who'd been curious about me, trying not to glance at the line again. More and more of them were asking about me.  
    I heard a familiar voice as the line entered its second hour, and while I didn't want to pull my phone out, I was trying to figure out what the hell had happened to my friends.  
    The voice moved closer, and I realized that it really wasn't Ryan or Kevin, so who would it be? It was striking a nerve, though, catching my attention more and more.  
    Finally, a beautiful young woman moved from the building...and her hair was utterly white.  
    I stared at her in disbelief, because she _was_ young. The hair color was the fault of a vampire feeding on her, but I'd never seen anyone with more than a few locks that had changed color.  
    "I always thought Vegas was for the slime," the male behind her noted.  
    It looked like Joshua.  
    I stared at him as my heart started pounding, watching as he laughed and looked around to someone behind he and the girl both. He was taller than his cousin, but their looks were nearly as identical as Kevin and Collin otherwise. It was almost bizarre to see. He nodded in response to something, then looked around with an interested expression before focusing on me.  
    "Easy," Gable said quietly, grabbing my wrist as I realized I'd started shaking. "Be easy."  
    The male tilted his head at me, then turned his head...to the actual Josh. That was Josh!  
    I wanted to run and greet him, but standing next to that god of a vampire, I didn't dare move. I could feel my chest constricting in fear, though, because I could sense him. Every move of his hand, every step and turn of his head...I could feel it through the air like a physical shadow.  
    "Easy," Gable said, turning to look at me. "Do you have your sweater?"  
    I shook my head, meeting his eyes.  
    Gable nodded, rising and stepping from his seat to greet the next few people.  
    It took forever for Josh to notice me, and he stopped to stare at me when I avoided his eyes. He glanced back at the taller male, then muttered something to the woman and slid past them.  
    "Hey," he greeted me, though he looked tired.  
    "Hey," I smiled slightly at him, feeling sick. I could feel the other one's attention on me, and I was pretty sure the air had gotten colder.  
    "What's wrong?" he asked, frowning at me briefly, then shifted back. "I have to go."  
    I wanted to call him back in protest, but he'd started to turn away.  
    "Who is this?" the male asked in a happy voice, joining us.  
    It took every ounce of self-control I had for me not to dart away.  
    "He's a former bartender from Secrets," Josh supplied. "A friend of mine."  
    "Ah, my name is Thomas," the male supplied, offering me his hand as he studied my eyes. "It's nice to meet you, former bartender."  
    I didn't want to shake his hand, looking around to Gable uncertainly. The dragon was talking to others, though.  
    "What are you doing now?" the woman asked happily, moving up to take Thomas' hand and wrap it around her waist as she smiled at me. "Hi, I'm Justine," she noted. "Did Josh just say you were a friend?"  
    I nodded, focusing on her as best I could.  
    "What's your name?" she pressed.  
    "I'm Brian," I swallowed slightly, looking between them.  
    "Nice to meet you, Brian," Thomas persisted, extending his hand again.  
    I couldn't avoid shaking it. I reached over and shook without meeting his eyes, and heard him make a thoughtful noise.  
    "You should come with us," Justine said brightly.  
    "I'm sorry, I can't," I whispered, trying to relax. He hadn't tried to affect me at all.  
    "But Bui just moved away without bringing you," Thomas protested, sounding far too amused.  
    "Thomas," Josh said, "Ethan didn't treat him very well. Please stop intimidating him."  
    "Ah," Thomas' voice sounded slightly tight. "I wondered what was happening. Sorry, kid."  
    I blinked up at him, realizing that he'd turned away.  
    Justine watched him and Josh both join Gable, turning back to look at me.  
    "Sorry," I muttered, swallowing hard. "I hope I wasn't rude."  
    "You weren't," she reassured me. She studied my eyes a moment, moving closer to me and leaning in slightly. "Can we talk in private later?"  
    "If I get a chance," I agreed, wondering why.  
    She smiled at me, then turned and flounced after the vampires.  
    "You okay?" Gable asked, moving closer to me again as he studied my face.  
    I nodded, smiling slightly at him. "I didn't know that Josh RSVPed."  
    "I'm sorry," Gable returned quietly. "I knew you were having issues talking with him, but I thought he'd call you. Mr. Raith is attending in lieu of his family, but I invited Josh as your friend."  
    I nodded, smiling sadly at him and relaxing a little more. Gable sat next to me again, and I was glad for it. I felt cold to my core, and I tried to sit still as Gable continued greeting people. When Ryan _finally_ appeared, I nearly ran to him. My stress hadn't had any release, and I hated feeling vulnerable.  
    When they reached us, they were happy and greeted Gable. Maddy said something about arriving fashionably late as she tugged hair from her mouth, and I realized that Ryan was holding a sweater. L informed the dragon that they weren't arriving fashionably late, they were arriving panicked late because silly little girls didn't have comfortable shoes.  
    "What now?" Gable asked turning to look at me in amusement.  
    "From what I've gathered," I noted, stepping down next to them, "Maddy's shoes didn't fit so she had to go buy more."  
    Gable laughed delightedly at that, moving to hug the girl.  
    "Here," Ryan muttered, passing me the sweater. "Hoc texted L that you'd need this."  
    I nodded, taking it from him and blinking at it. It wasn't one I'd seen before, but I pulled it on anyway. It matched my slacks...and it smelled like him.  
    I swallowed, relaxing slightly as I joined the group.  
    "I'm almost done here," Bui promised us, patting my back. "Please get Hoc to bring me some water."  
    I nodded at him, following the group through the crowd and into the actual venue since the path was lined with velvet ropes.  
    Did I tell them? Should I tell them that Josh and his cousin were here? I knew L would insist that we go talk to him.  
    "Let me go tell Hoc," I muttered to the group, smiling slightly at Maddy before turning and heading across the room.  



	4. Chapter 4

#### Chapter Four

***Ryan**  
    Considering how many people were attending, I figured that any number of vampires had come in and scared Brian. L was more worried about it than that, but he'd perked up before returning to us to demand why we were more than an hour late.  
    Collin immediately launched into a complicated lie about a warlock, a griffin, and two paddle balls while Kevin explained that we'd been accosted by models and something about paint. Maddy started explaining something about making babies while L told him he didn't have the right to ask a lady why she was late...all at the same time.  
    I started laughing.  
    " _What?_ " Brian demanded, looking between them all skeptically.  
    "Two," Kevin agreed easily.  
    I laughed even harder.  
    Brian huffed.  
    The group started laughing, and Maddy spun for his approval, shifting to show him the new shoes. They were still heels, but this was a brand she knew she could wear all night, or something like that. I'd still bought a pair of those dumb purse ones, but we'd checked those with our other bags. The man had been particularly offended that I hadn't given up my sweater, but I'd ignored him.  
    "I need a drink," Brian noted dryly, turning to lead us across the room.  
    I looked around again, noting a lot of people all around. I could feel something odd and cold, but my sense of Bui was also intense.  
    I realized that one of my favorite band singers was near a group of model-pretty females, and I suppressed my urge to go talk to him. I was pretty sure we all could, this party seemed to be for a certain level of elite, and we'd been invited.  
    We moved to get drinks, then turned to mingle in the crowd as someone recognized Brian, then someone else. Then someone else. The amount of people who knew him was strange, but it did get me the name of a couple of the models, who all seemed to smell the dragon on me or something.  
    I laughed quietly.  
    "Hm?" Kevin asked, falling back to talk to me. He and Collin were getting a lot of attention for the identical thing, but Collin seemed to be enjoying that more.  
    "I think they smell the dragon on us," I supplied.  
    He smirked at me, looking around and indicating one of the pretty models. "Go talk to her, I bet you she'd spend the rest of the night with you."  
    "The problem is my sister," I pointed out sarcastically. "I'm not going to go hunt her down yet."  
    He laughed at that.  
    We moved on, until our group finally met a group with that singer in it. We were introduced all around, and I actually got to talk to him.  
    I had no idea how much time had passed when Bui finally showed up, extending a hand to L with an interested expression as he indicated the dancing couples to one side.  
    L hesitated.  
    "I'll dance!" Maddy said brightly, and Bui allowed his attention to shift to her easily.  
    He met my eyes briefly, but I nodded my approval. There was no reason for my sister not to dance, and with any luck that stupid actor she was trying to convince Brian to introduce to her would see her.  
    "Who _is_ James Arb?" I muttered to L as we all slowed to wait.  
    "He's from Illegitimate," she supplied.  
    I tilted my head at her.  
    "Illegitimate?" she repeated, blinking at me. "That drama where the legitimate son and the mistress' son are at the same college and the legitimate son is constantly trying to mess up his chances for everything? It's on it's fifth season."  
    I looked to Kevin and Collin, noting the same blank look.  
    "Tech gremlins," L rolled her eyes.  
    "That sounds _terrible_ ," Collin noted happily. "I've only seen the first two seasons."  
    L started laughing.  
    "What?" Brian asked, turning to us.  
    "My sister wants to meet James Arb," I supplied. "I wanted to know why."  
    Brian rolled his eyes, looking amused. "I wasn't actually introduced to him. You should ask L about him again when they get back, Gable will waltz her right to him."  
    "I'll do it if you don't want to," Kevin noted happily as he met my eyes. "I'm not going to be contrary for the sake of being contrary."  
    "That's exactly what that is," Collin protested.  
    I laughed as the pair started bickering, looking around to L. "Want to dance?"  
    "Alright," she agreed, taking my hand.  
    I led her onto the floor, wondering if she'd ask me about it or not. I could actually do ballet, though I wasn't as good at it as someone who studied it for the dance itself. I'd done a ton of dancing when I was younger, because any sort of measured practice really helped control your body.  
    The night moved on, and Maddy was almost constantly on the floor. True to his word, Kevin asked about the actor when Bui had rejoined them, and the next time I saw my sister, she was dancing with an unfamiliar male. I left her to it, hoping she was having fun as I asked all the pretty girls to join me on the floor. It took a while before I spotted her again, and she looked slightly wilted.  
    Well, big brothers could be pests.  
    I allowed my partner to disappear, turning and moving across to smile briefly at the male as I tapped his arm. He looked annoyed, like he expected me to try and talk to him, but instead I offered a hand to her...and danced her away from him. She was giggling as she lifted her legs for me to carry her, and I smiled as we moved from the dancing throng to an empty table, where a waiter met us with glasses of wine.  
    "Thanks," I said, grabbing two.  
    "I just danced with Jacob Arb, Andrew Carmen, and Dillon Thresher!" she wiggled at me. "All three!"  
    "I just danced with pretty, smiley, laugh-y, and needs-a-pick-up."  
    She giggled, taking the wine from me and giving me a perplexed look.  
    "Just stay with me until you've cleared your head," I supplied. "Or Kev, just one of us."  
    She nodded, taking an experimental sip and making a face.  
    "It tastes better after a few sips," I promised, drinking my own and sighing slightly. "Are you having fun? Who were those guys? Was that last one one of them?"  
    She laughed. "I forget you don't watch tv. That was Dillon Thresher, he's starting to act in movies now. The other two are from that show Illegitimate." She leaned closer to me, lowering her voice. "James Arb told me that the producer is talking about having a girl come in and be torn between them."  
    "Please note that if he asks you to try out, he's trying to con you into sex," I noted dryly.  
    She started laughing hard, sipping more at the cup and making another face.  
    "Oh fine," I set my cup down. "Stay here and I'll get you something."  
    She beamed at me, taking her phone out...of where? Where the hell did she have her phone?  
    I snorted, moving to the refreshments table and gathering a goblet of juice for her. I made a pass of the snacks, too, then moved to set them next to her.  
    She was almost crying as she giggled, looking up to me.  
    "What?" I asked, half alarmed.  
    "Brian just said he'd introduce me...to Joseph Albright."  
    "Holy crap, really?" I asked, actually recognizing that name. He was an actor that did the sort of movie worth watching.  
    She nodded, waving the air at her eyes. "Do I look alright?"  
    "Drink," I told her, indicating the cup.  
    She took it and sipped, then drank the rest of it down before blotting her lips. "My lipstick?"  
    "Won't hurt to touch up," I reassured her, looking around to find Brian.  
    I watched as she did it and tucked the tube away, looking her over blankly.  
    "What?" she asked, actually looking at me.  
    "You have a girl pocket, don't you?" I retorted.  
    She gave me a long blank look, then tucked one hand into...the skirt's pocket.  
    I snorted, rising and offering her a hand up.  
    "You loved this dress and didn't see the pockets?" she asked blankly.  
    "I like how you look in the dress, I didn't notice the pockets, sorry."  
    She laughed, linking her arm into mine as we started across the room. We wound through the crowd to the outdoor area, then wandered down a little gravel path as I wondered where we were going.  
    "...it's mostly simple things," Brian was saying. He spotted us, smiling and waving us closer. "Here we are! These are my friends Maddy and Ryan Halgar."  
    "Married?" Joseph Albright asked curiously as he looked between us.  
    "Siblings," Brian corrected. "Ryan brought her as a present for her graduation."  
    "Ooh, big brother, stay at hand," Joseph smiled at me. "That sounds like me getting myself in trouble."  
    Brian laughed, meeting my eyes.  
    It was bizarre to have a conversation with an actor I'd admired for years. It didn't take long for an actress we both recognized to join us, and Joseph introduced us to her as well.  
    I was sort of floating on cloud nine when Joseph asked Maddy to dance, and Brian and I followed them back into the dance floor. Joseph was certain that I could see him the entire time, and I wondered how much scandal he avoided by doing that sort of thing. I didn't get the impression he was going to do anything with my sister, but I appreciated the caution.  
    "You seem happy," Bui noted as he joined us.  
    "Thank you again, for inviting me," I said, offering him my hand. "My sister is having the time of her life," I indicated the pair on the floor.  
    "That is a sweet picture," Bui returned, snapping his fingers and pointing at the pair as the photographer who'd been following him stepped closer.  
    It was almost more interesting to watch the man darting around the floor getting shots than to see my sister oblivious to it. I couldn't tell if the man himself noticed, but the photographer finally got a shot he liked and disappeared into the crowd again.  
    "Are you alright?" Brian asked curiously as he moved nearer to study the dragon.  
    Bui nodded easily, relaxing beside us. "I'm glad you're both enjoying yourselves. I was worried that I'd been wrong to think you'd enjoy this."  
    "No, it's great," I reassured him, watching as the dance ended and Joseph Albright bowed slightly to my sister and moved to another young woman. Maddy turned to dance back to me, then slowed as another man interceded. She accepted his hand, beamed at me, then went back into the crowd.  
    "That was the lead singer of Streamer," Brian blinked. "Do you think she knows that?"  
    "Probably," I agreed, taking a long slow breath and relaxing slightly.  
    "Does it truly bring you pleasure to see her that happy?" Bui asked me curiously.  
    "It does," I agreed, smiling slightly at him. "Making loved ones happy is always pleasurable, and knowing the sort of people she's meeting tonight, I'm sort of proud. I brought her on a whim, and she's met so many people she admires that she'll talk about this for years."  
    "Even though that man is obviously interested in her body?" Bui pointed at the male.  
    I noticed that his hand had moved onto her rear. Her expression turned offended as she stopped dancing, and I was about to step forward when Kevin stepped up beside them, smacking the man's hand away. I saw the moment of confrontation as Maddy turned into Kevin's chest. The man looked annoyed as he turned to storm away, but Kevin took over the dance easily.  
    "Should I eat him?" Bui asked curiously.  
    I nearly told him yes, but Brian wouldn't let me.  
  
  
 ***Josh**  
    Watching L dance made me sad, and even sadder because she looked like she was having so much fun. I kept seeing Kevin, too. He almost seemed to be everywhere I looked, though Ryan disappeared for a long time.  
    I wished I hadn't come.  
    I made my way through the stars and starlets easily, teasing a few of the music artists, too. I was able to feed from a few of the females without doing anything too invasive, though, and that was sort of fun.  
    My uncle and his doe were making their own way through the dance floor, and I wondered if Brian had even told the others I was here. I hadn't realized he would be scared of me, but that was the sort of monster I was, right?  
    I stared across the room distantly, not wanting to see L dance with anyone else. I grabbed another glass of wine as I went, heading into the garden area behind the venue. L hadn't even really left the dance floor, she'd have love to walk through all of that since the night wasn't nearly as hot as the days, and everything was lit.  
    "Oh..."  
    I turned to see a pretty girl who was probably about eighteen. She was wearing a black dress, and had dropped her phone. She smiled up at me as she stood again, and I'd have thought she'd been acting for me, but she hadn't bent over with her ass in the air and the top didn't flash her cleavage.  
    "Good evening," I greeted her.  
    "Hi," she said almost nervously, fiddling with her phone.  
    "It's not broken, is it?"  
    "No," she smiled, showing me the thing again. "My brother gave me the money to buy a case for it, it's got the glass that doesn't break on top of the screen."  
    "Probably a good idea," I agreed, moving nearer her as I tried to place what I was smelling. It was familiar. She _looked_ familiar.  
    "Are you having a good night?" she asked. "I've gotten to meet so many people."  
    "My night is getting better," I noted, reaching over to touch her hair. She was definitely a virgin, and I wondered what private areas there were around to remedy that.  
    She shifted slightly, studying my eyes.  
    Someone caught my wrist.  
    I turned to glare at the interloper, then realized it was Brian. He yanked my hand away from her, his expression furious.  
    "Ooh," I muttered, nearly touching his face...until I realized he had one of Ryan's sweaters on.  
    He only wore those when he was scared, right?  
    Of me? He hadn't wanted to talk to me earlier in the line.  
    I lowered my hand, blinking at him.  
    "Don't," he said in a tight voice. "Not her. Not tonight."  
    "I guess it's good you're here, then, huh?" I turned toward him.  
    I saw the fear flicker in his eyes, then the anger as he swatted my hand away.  
    "No?" I asked. "Then why are you bothering me?"  
    "What are you doing?" Brian retorted, yanking at my wrist before I could turn back to the confused girl. He yanked me a few steps away from her, too. "What's _with_ you lately?"  
    "I'm _Hungry_ , Brian," I stated. "How clear do I have to make that?"  
    The male seethed at me wordlessly, and I turned back to the girl...and froze as I realized that Ryan was standing there with _that_ look in his eyes.  
    The girl was holding his arm.  
    They all wanted him, didn't they? I had a damn addicting demon inside of me, and they still wanted the fucking wizard, even the straight guy.  
    I focused on him, realizing that we were meeting eyes. He blinked after a second, though, his defenses crumbling as he looked down to the girl.  
    "What the hell?" she demanded, looking offended.  
    "This is Josh," Ryan supplied, gesturing vaguely at me. "He likes to sleep around, don't give into his bull or I'll tell Mom."  
    What?  
    " _What?_ " the girl retorted, looking both offended and confused.  
    "This is my little sister Maddy," Ryan noted, looking seriously back to me, flexing his hand as it hung at his side. "Maddy, this is Josh. He's the sort of boyfriend L was telling you about."  
    I stepped back, looking around to see that Brian hadn't moved and Kevin was approaching from the far side. That path was blocked, so into the maze?  
    "Josh," Ryan said seriously. "I didn't know you'd showed up. I'd have found you by now if I had." He moved forward and pulled me into a brief hug. "How have you been?"  
    I didn't respond, pulling away from him. I hesitated, then frowned as I looked to the ground. "I talked to Brian."  
    "Sorry," Brian swallowed thickly behind me. "He...his cousin is here, Thomas Raith? He was terrifying, and I couldn't stand for you guys to make me go near him."  
    "Or me?" I asked darkly.  
    "I wanted to see you, but you're always with him," Brian gestured toward the main building again. "I can't help what happens when you're avoiding me like that."  
    I glared at him, looking back to the girl thoughtfully, then back to Ryan...as Kevin moved up beside him.  
    I stared at the wizard a moment, then turned my head...to see Kevin near Brian.  
    "What is this?" the one near Brian asked with ice in his tone as he stared at me.  
    "This is Josh," Brian said with a sigh. "Josh, this is Collin."  
    "Why are we all out here?" Collin asked, still staring me down directly.  
    I avoided his eyes.  
    "I don't know, I was getting away from the dancing and he was out here. Brian came up," she gestured vaguely. "They were sort of fighting or something, then Ry came up. What's the problem? Should we get L?"  
    "No," I said sharply, stepping back slightly.  
    "Now what's going on out here?"  
    I looked around to my uncle in alarm as he sauntered up the path behind Ryan and Kevin.  
    "I thought the wizards knew better than causing problems with the courts," Thomas noted as he studied Ryan seriously.  
    "No worries, cousin," I said quickly, gesturing for him to stay calm as I shifted so I was between him and Brian. I could feel the former bartender's anxiety, and his breathing had turned more into fearful pants.  
    "No worries?" Thomas asked, stopping behind Kevin and Ryan. "When they have you penned in?"  
    "Penned in?" Ryan asked, that steely cold note in his voice. "Vampire, want to play?"  
    "Vampire?" the girl asked, her voice going slightly shrill as she backed off. "What?"  
    I looked to Ryan in disbelief.  
    Something inside of Ryan seemed to twitch as he shifted between my uncle and the girl. "Maddy, go find L," he said quietly.  
    "But you just said..."  
    " _Go_."  
    The girl hesitated, then darted past me toward Brian and the other twin, disappearing down the path.  
    "Ry," Kevin's voice was uncertain as he watched my uncle. "There are only three of us."  
    I saw Ryan's hand moved toward his thigh, and realized he didn't have his staff. He didn't have a single weapon.  
    Thomas looked us all over, then looked back to Ryan.  
    "Thomas, it's fine," I said quickly, moving forward and intercepting his reaching hand by shoving Ryan away. "These are mostly friends of mine—that one is kind of new," I indicated the twin nearer Brian. "But these are friends."  
    "You don't seem too happy to see them," Thomas pointed out.  
    I watched Ryan rubbing at his mouth, edging between him and my uncle again. I had no idea why they were reacting to him when he wasn't actually doing anything, but I was pretty certain that any actual exposure would set Ryan off like a damn firecracker, and if he didn't have any weapons, I had no idea what he'd actually do.  
    "I can't," Brian gasped, turning and half running away.  
    Thomas looked after him, confused.  
    "Vampire, do something," Kevin said uncertainly.  
    "No, relax," Thomas muttered in a silky voice. I wanted to jerk away from him as I stepped closer...and then realized that Ryan was moving.  
    I turned, throwing myself into the wizard and tossing him back toward where Brian had been, turning to yank Kevin away as well.  
    Thomas started laughing wickedly.  
    " _Thomas_ ," Justine snapped, coming up the path behind him. "What are you doing?"  
    "These wizards were about to attack my cousin," Thomas said. "I was making sure nothing dark happened."  
    I turned to intercept Ryan again as Kevin came forward to help. The twin moved in to grab Ryan with an uncertain look at me, and I turned to Justine. "They're my friends and I've been sulking and avoiding them."  
    "So what are you doing?" she asked Thomas.  
    "Mostly seeing what would happen," Thomas supplied happily. "That one there is not acting normal," he indicated Ryan.  
    Justine _sighed_ at him.  
    Thomas started laughing, kissing her briefly, then turned to move past me.  
    "Don't do it," Justine said in an annoyed voice.  
    Thomas rested his hand along Ryan's jaw...and the air went cold. I jumped for them, expecting sudden and exploding violence, but only managed to jar my uncle's arm away...as Ryan's knees gave out.  
    " _What the hell_!" L's voice was hell-furry as she stormed up the path with the other girl half running to keep up with her. "Josh?" she snapped, glaring at Thomas a moment before stopping.  
    Thomas smiled brightly at her.  
    She stared at him, then turned to look us all over before seeing Ryan on the ground. She stared at him as he started picking himself up, then looked up to me with tears in her eyes.  
    "L," I started, moving forward.  
    Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she turned to dart into the maze.  
    "Wait! L!" I hopped over the wizard to follow her, coming up hard and spinning on my uncle in disbelief.  
    "No, let me," Thomas said.  
    " _No_!" I shouted back, disbelieving as I yanked way from him. "Stop _screwing_ with my friends!"  
    I saw his expression go perplexed, then turned to chase after my...sort of girlfriend.  
  
  
 ***L**  
    He wasn't going to talk to me at all.  
    I was crying as I ran through the dark maze, I'd moved away from the party's lights, and finally came up to a fountain and sat at it as I started crying harder.  
    I should just hook up with Ryan. He wouldn't break my heart.  
    "L!" Josh said, darting up and grabbing me, then swearing and falling back.  
    I watched his expression go from confused to disbelieving as he looked back to me.  
    "What?" I snapped.  
    "You sleep with the wizard?" he retorted.  
    "I should have," I snapped back, rising and staring at him. "And _that_ is what you have to say? After _months_ of avoiding me and only telling Brian you didn't want to fuck him? What the hell, Josh?"  
    He shook his head at me, swallowing hard.  
    "I can't do this," I snapped, wiping tears from my eyes. "And you obviously don't want to, so why are you out here?"  
    "That wasn't what it looked like," he supplied, gesturing back where we'd been.  
    "I don't care what you and your _uncle_ were doing," I whispered tightly at him.  
    He froze.  
    "You weren't going to talk to me," I added, studying his face. "After all the bullshit..."  
    "It only hurts," he stated, watching me with tears in his own eyes. "I can't touch you, I can't be with you, you dismiss my emotions anyway...so no, I wasn't going to talk to you."  
    Tears slid down my cheeks.  
    "I can't even touch you now," he pointed out, extending his hands to show me his palms.  
    "What do you want me to do?" I snapped at him, gesturing at his hands.  
    "Have sex with your wizard," he snapped back. "Or the bartender you took from me...any of your wizards, even that girl."  
    I stared at him as more tears slid down my cheeks, then turned away. We'd had this argument before, and while I was pretty sure I could sleep with Ryan without feeling like a slut, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't give me just as much protection as I already had.  
    He moved closer to me, swallowing hard. "You don't know what my life is like," he said seriously. "I tell you the stories and you're upset, but you don't have to be there and plan for possibilities. You don't have to keep three moves ahead of your family or get thrown in a gutter with your throat slit. I realized when Ethan was chasing you and Brian around the hotel that I can't protect you. I can't play these games on top of everything else I have to do."  
    "I just want to be with you," I protested.  
    "I _can't_ , L," he snapped, storming forward and grabbing my arm. He swore, pulling the hand away and shaking it out as he watched my face. "Do you not _understand_ this?"  
    I turned away from him, heading around the fountain.  
    "I am...so...tired," he muttered, moving up behind me and dropping to the ground near my feet. "I am just...so...tired."  
    "What do we do?" I demanded, sitting next to him.  
    "Stop asking me that," he said quietly. "Because you know damn well what I'll say."  
    "Josh, Ryan loves me," I stated. "I don't know how much, but I can tell he does. That won't help _any_ of us."  
    "That's all I have," he noted, rising as he studied me, turning to walk away. "Call me...when you figure something else out."  
    I watched him go, starting to cry again.  
    I knew he was right, that was all we had left. I'd known I'd always miss him, but I hadn't expected to actually end things with him...not with everything I knew about his history, not with _our_ history...but at least for now, there was nothing left.  
    "My dear," Gable muttered, moving up from the path Josh had gone down. He was holding a drink and a cloth of some sort, and moved to sit next to me, offering me both.  
    "I'm sorry," I said seriously as I dabbed at my face with the handkerchief. "I hope we aren't ruining your party."  
    "Something like this happens every year," he reassured me. "I didn't expect it to be so intimate. I'm worried about you, though. Are you going to be alright?"  
    I shrugged, drinking from the cup. It was wine, it tasted good.  
    He started talking quietly, telling me a story about the moon. His voice was deep, and I relaxed as I allowed him to distract me, then looked up to see the moon in the sky as the story concluded.  
    "L?" Ry asked, moving around the fountain to look between us. "Sorry. You alright?"  
    "Feeling better," I agreed, squeezing Gable's hand slightly. "Are you?"  
    "That was psychotic and that Raith bastard can burn."  
    I smiled at that, laughing at the very notion. Which Raith bastard?  
    Gable picked himself up from the ground, nodding his head slightly to Ryan and walking off.  
    "So..." Ryan hesitated, gesturing behind him toward the dragon. "Josh left."  
    I moved into his arms, trying not to start crying again.  
    "Nothing changed?" he asked quietly.  
    "It all changed," I returned, leaning into him. "We're done."  
    "I'm sorry," he said quietly, wrapping his arms around me. "I didn't want that at all."  
    I nodded, knowing that he was telling the truth. "It sounds so simple, right? Have sex with someone who doesn't love you, then we can be together again until we have sex again, and then you have to find someone who doesn't love you again...wash, rinse, repeat as necessary."  
    "Yeah," Ryan sighed.  
    "I'm ready to go home," I muttered tiredly. "Back to the hotel, at least."  
    "I think the others are ready, too," he agreed, pulling away and keeping ahold of my hand. "Let's go."  
  
  
 ***Brian**  
    I felt like a coward as I waited near the refreshments table with my back to the crowd and my mouth tucked into the sweater. I was done talking to people, and I had a feeling that my friends would be ready to leave. I needed to find Gable and make sure that was alright, though, and I was putting it off because there was a chance that it wasn't.  
    A warm presence slowed beside me, and since it was most likely Arkady...  
    I jumped hard as I met eyes with Thomas Raith, stepping backwards.  
    "You alright?" he asked.  
    "Please go away," I returned, shifting back another step.  
    "Justine asked me to keep you here a minute," he supplied, raising a hand to rest on my shoulder, then hissed and pulled his hand away, staring at his fingers in confusion.  
    I focused on his hand, reaching for it before I thought. He flinched briefly away from contact, then frowned down at me as I studied the burn.  
    ...my sweater burned him? _Ryan's_ sweater burned him?  
    I looked up to him in confusion. Not only for having gotten burned, but also for the fact that he'd _been_ burned. That only happened when they were trying to feed, right?  
    "You're not protected, but the sweater is," Thomas noted, raising an eyebrow at me. "How did that happen?"  
    I shook my head, feeling minutely better and infinitely more confused.  
    "Where did you get it?" he added, thinking. "And seriously, are you okay? I didn't mean to upset you; that lot was just about to attack my cousin."  
    "Ryan and Kevin are his friends," I protested, blinking up at him. I realized that Maddy would be a vulnerability. "I saw Josh messing with a girl and didn't want him to..."  
    "The young one," Thomas agreed, looking around and pointing Maddy out. "I believe she's the sister of one," he thought a moment. "The one whose sweater this is," he looked back to me with distinctly curious eyes.  
    I snorted at him, crossing my arms over my chest.  
    "I don't remember my life being half this convoluted when I was young," he noted happily.  
    "How high were you?" I retorted, remembering some things Josh'd said before and how high Josh tended to _be_ at Secrets.  
    He laughed at that. "As if I tracked," he looked around the room, and I saw Justine wafting through the crowd toward us. "Ah, here she comes. Look, I did the job without scaring you more."  
    I snorted at him, frowning. "I'm...but...isn't it just gifts of love?"  
    "Love," he mused. "You say it like it's just another four letter word; what the love, huh?"  
    "No," I protested, looking back to the sweater. "This isn't love; Ryan doesn't love me...not like that."  
    "Like that?" Thomas laughed quietly. "I want to say he does, but that goes back to the underlying misunderstanding you seem to have about that four letter word."  
    I frowned, looking up to him again and feeling small.  
    "Love that burns me, that burns my cousin," he supplied. "It's total. It's enough to alter the world around you...I can't investigate it, honestly, but when two people _love_ , it changes everything. I admit that I'm used to considering it in the romantic light, but by your confusion I can tell this isn't the case. That protection is given and accepted both. He gave it, you took it." He took a drink as he wrapped his arm around Justine. "Considering the scent on this, I'm quite proud of myself," he looked down to the woman. "I inspired true love."  
    "Always," she agreed, kissing him. "Go away so I can talk with him now."  
    He kissed her again, winked at me, then turned and strutted away.  
    I stared after him.  
    "What was he gloating about?" Justine asked brightly.  
    "He tried to pat my shoulder and it burned him," I explained, trying _not_ to think about the idea that Ryan loved me.  
    We might _have_ to have that talk he'd been teasing me about after all.  
    She laughed brightly, shifting to stand nearer to me. "I have something I want to ask you about," she offered. "A deal."  
    The words set alarms off in my mind, and I focused on her eyes.  
    "Um," she hesitated. "What's wrong?"  
    "Ethan said the same thing," I retorted, narrowing my eyes at her. "Right before licking me and torturing me for a week straight."  
    Her expression fell.  
    "I'm listening," I noted. "What do you want?"  



	5. Chapter 5

#### Chapter Five

***Ryan**  
    I sent L, Kevin, and Collin back to the hotel in my car. I knew I was resigning myself and Maddy to the party until Brian could leave it, but L needed to be away. I also needed to check on Brian again. He'd seemed mostly okay when I'd found him after the initial drama near the maze, but I wasn't sure if that had been more than the initial moment.  
    Maddy moved to dance with someone else, and I hesitated to leave her alone at the floor. We needed our group right now, which meant rescuing Brian...  
    A hand rested on my shoulder, and I jumped back from the white court prince hard. I'd been about to attack him before, but when he'd actually focused on me, my entire world had dissolved.  
    "Easy," he said. "Peace."  
    I stared at him a long moment, wanting to run.  
    I'd never had another white to compare Josh to. I'd always been taught that the vampires were bad news and we couldn't stand facing them. I'd assumed Josh was bad, but compared to _this_ man, Josh was a kitten rolling around and learning to fight.  
    "I wanted to apologize," Thomas noted, studying me with amusement deep in his eyes as he studiously avoided meeting mine directly. "I'm still not convinced you're actually friends with Joshua. I saw you about to attack him, but everyone is insisting."  
    "He was going to feed on my sister," I shifted away from him. "I need to talk to him, but I'm not sure how to talk him into it."  
    "Don't look at me," Thomas retorted, looking me over with distinct interest.  
    I narrowed my eyes at him  
    He laughed, drinking from his cup as he briefly met my eyes.  
    "What?" I demanded, wondering if he didn't like the cut of my suit or something.  
    "I just talked to your little friend," he supplied.  
    My stomach clenched and I leaned into his face. "If you _touch_ him, I swear..."  
    "Easy, cowboy," he muttered, shifting back slightly. "I almost want to soul-gaze you, but I don't need that stuck in the memory crap."  
    I glared at him, meeting his eyes. I didn't want a soul-gaze with him, either, but without any weapons, I was sort of screwed.  
    Actually, considering his muscles and the way he moved, he probably knew how to fight.  
    I looked away from him.  
    "I wanted to ask you about the sweater that buck is wearing."  
    I looked back to his eyes, feeling my stomach clench in anger. "He is not your food."  
    "Wow," Thomas started laughing, shifting back a step. "I'm _sorry_. I don't intend to eat your bartender."  
    That didn't make me feel any better.  
    He chuckled quietly as he drained his cup, and I realized as he tilted his head back to empty it that he was baring is throat to me. He didn't see me as a threat at all.  
    I resisted my urge to punch his throat, feeling my knuckles starting to throb. It seemed to happen when I wanted to hit a vampire.  
    He shifted how he stood, studying me a moment longer, then gestured toward...  
    Oh, it was Brian.  
    I blinked across the room, realizing that he was talking to the white haired woman.  
    "I wanted to ask you a question, then warn you about something," Thomas noted. "The question being: are you in love with him?"  
    I _focused_ on him in disbelief. "What?"  
    "It's the damnedest thing," he muttered, looking around the room. "Alright, well, I don't know what to do with that at all. That sweater is one you've worn, its smells like you. He didn't have it when we greeted him," he pointed toward the entry area that most had entered by.  
    "I brought it," I returned. "I don't know how much you know, but he was mistreated by another of Josh's cousins; name of Ethan."  
    "It burned me."  
    I blinked at him. "What?"  
    "It burned me," he repeated. "The sweater itself, not the b...bartender."  
    I stared at him.  
    "Yeah," he smirked at me. "And since you gave it to him, I assumed you two had something deeper going on. You passed it to him yourself?"  
    I frowned, nodding slightly. "Josh never got burned by it..." I hesitated. "But then he never really tried to feed on him," I met Thomas' eyes.  
    Thomas laughed a low wicked laugh, and I realized I was cold.  
    I couldn't tell if it was the building's air-conditioner or not, though.  
    "Well," he noted, a hint of silk in his voice. "I don't think we should touch that."  
    "I want to deck you," I informed him, feeling my knuckles throbbing again as I met his eyes.  
    "You're not supposed to notice," he complained, setting his cup on a tray as a waiter walked past us. He picked up two from another waiter, passing one to me.  
    I hesitated, then took the thing as I looked back to see Brian giving the woman a disbelieving look.  
    "What happened?" he asked seriously. "I'm sure Josh will tell me if I ask him; I heard something about a d...a woman and a couple of our cousins about a year ago, then a few months later Ethan came up again. Brian himself has mentioned Ethan...and I get the impression you were involved with it."  
    "Cat's paws," I retorted, flexing my fingers again. I realized that I could sort of feel my pulse on the back of my hand, looking back to the vampire's eyes.  
    "Tell me," he urged...and I heard it distinctly. That underlying velvet.  
    " _I said **no!**_ " Brian shouted, brushing the woman's hands away.  
    Thomas growled, turning immediately toward them.  
    I moved as well, heading to intercept Brian as he stormed away and Thomas went for Justine...that was her name, right?  
    Brian nearly burst into tears, throwing himself into my chest.  
    "Hey, it's alright," I said quickly. "Let's get out of here; where's Bui?"  
    "She just asked me to spy for her," he said, pulling back to look up at me. "She tried to promise me all sorts of money."  
    I frowned at him, looking around to see that Justine was glaring at Brian around Thomas.  
    "Let's go," I muttered, turning and heading back across the room. I wanted away from the pair of them, wishing that my exposure to whites had remained limited to Josh.  
    I had to wonder about the course my life had taken when I realized that my sister was dancing with Bui. I'd been about to get upset because I couldn't find her, then had seen her with the dragon and relaxed.  
    The song ended, and Bui walked her away from the floor courteously. He led her directly to us, moving around to hug Brian briefly.  
    "I'm sorry," Brian said, relaxing as he righted himself. "I don't think I've been paying good attention tonight."  
    "You've been fine," Bui reassured him. "And what I've learned from you so far came in immensely usefully. Ryan," he acknowledged me.  
    I nodded my head to him.  
    "I assume by the emotional upset that you're ready to leave," Bui noted, looking back to Brian. "I'm disappointed that I didn't get to have a last dance with L, though."  
    Brian blinked at him, then looked around.  
    "She was deeply upset," I supplied. "You helped calm her, of course, but the night didn't end well for her."  
    Bui sighed slightly and nodded, rubbing at Brian's shoulders. "I return your gem," he noted, passing Maddy from his arm to mine. It made her giggle as she turned back to kiss his cheek quickly.  
    He smiled fondly at her, then nodded to me. "Go home. I'll tell the others for you."  
    "I should..." Brian started.  
    "No, they're unaware that there was an incident. I'll tell them when the party is properly over. You did dance with Ishi, didn't you? Arkady made it quite clear that the lady had demanded it."  
    Brian smiled and nodded. "Three or four times."  
    Bui smiled and nodded, then turned to walk away.  
    "It's time to go, right?" Maddy asked us, frowning slightly.  
    "Yeah," I agreed turning to lead them through the exit toward the cloak room. It only took us a moment to have our things, and Brian trudged along beside me as we headed for his car.  
    "I'm tired," Maddy noted as she slid into the car, bringing her legs up and around so her feet were over the second seat and flicking her heels off.  
    I didn't think too much about the display until I realized Brian had frozen in the act of sitting, and I smacked his arm to get him moving again. He looked embarrassed as he sat, and I wondered if they were both oblivious to their mutual attraction or what. Maddy had talked about Brian to me so much that she'd given herself away, and Brian's body language was beyond obvious.  
    Maddy situated herself so her feet were between our seats, wiggling her toes. I had a feeling she wanted to see if she could con me into a massage, but I never gave in that easily. I did lean over to study the little daisies she'd painted on her toes, though.  
    Maddy giggled.  
    "What?" Brian asked blankly, trying not to look at her legs as we moved across the lot.  
    "She has cute toes," I suggested, giving in and starting to massage her feet. "At least the nails, anyway."  
    "It took me an hour," she said proudly. "And they're perfect."  
    "Is _that_ why you were so late?" Brian retorted accusingly, though there was amusement in his tone.  
    "No!" she protested, starting to giggle a bit, then yanked at a foot. "Ouch, Ry."  
    "That wasn't me, that was your foot," I retorted, focusing on the spot carefully. I felt the bone pop, and she squawked, trying to jerk away.  
    "I'm trying to drive," Brian told me pointedly.  
    "Her foot was all messed up," I complained at him, letting her pull the thing back and starting on the other one. "Sorry."  
    Brian huffed, then looked at me sidelong again.  
    I ignored him, assuming he was going to flick me shit for babying her after telling everyone else not to. He didn't comment as I finished, and I accepted the little bottle of hand sanitizer from her without comment. It was as I finished rubbing the stuff into my hands that I realized why he kept looking at me, and realized what Thomas had been warning me about.  
    The sweater had burned him.  
    I shifted down in my seat tiredly, actually thinking about those implications. Vampires couldn't touch love, and I certainly wasn't _in_ love with him, so what did that mean?  
    "Am I far enough away from you?" Maddy asked as she curled up in the back seat.  
    "I wouldn't chance it," I suggested. "I'm still rattled. You might have missed it, but there was this fight that happened. I got attacked by a vampire, L broke into tears...Josh."  
    Brian made a slight face in agreement.  
    "They couldn't have been vampires, though," Maddy actually focused on me. "That's...those aren't real, are they?"  
    "They're sort of like incubus and succubus," I supplied. "Sneak in and cause wet dreams?"  
    She snickered at that. "He did look pretty hot."  
    "Right?" I retorted.  
    She _focused_ on me.  
    "It's part of their power," I supplied. "If Josh had actually touched you, you'd have let him have sex with you."  
    "No!" she protested. "I'm not just going to spread my legs like that..."  
    "You don't plan to, but you just heard me agree that guy was hot, and you know I like women."  
    She giggled wickedly.  
    "They feed through sex," I added, rubbing at my nose and realizing a weird floral scent was coming from my hands. I blinked at them a moment, then looked back to her. "And the less you know about them, the better."  
    "I want to call you out for naming them," Brian noted dryly.  
    "I was under the influence," I bickered back. "God, that vampire," I shuddered slightly at the memory. I'd been about to _wail_ on that guy, I was about to do to him what I'd done to Ethan...but whatever he'd done had turned my knees to water. He hadn't even been feeding on me.  
    "He got burned...by the sweater," Brian said in an undertone.  
    I frowned at him, shaking my head slightly.  
    "Burned?" Maddy asked happily. "I suppose it was a little warm to be wandering around with a sweater on all night. I'm not sure if I'm more impressed that you pull it off or that Ry picked one that'd go with your wardrobe."  
    Brian glanced at her in the mirror, frowning slightly.  
    "It's funny," she protested, looking between us. "Isn't it?"  
    "The vampires hurt him," I said, looking around to her again. "For a week—not one of the ones tonight. A different one. I went to save him, I told you his bartender uniform was lounge pants only, right? It was winter. He needed a shirt and I gave him a sweater. I guess it is funny, but..."  
    "Oh," she sobered, then smiled slightly. "You still picked one that looks good with slacks...and he still wears it like it's his."  
    "That one is," I retorted. "He brought the one you bought me back yesterday."  
    He turned his head to blink at me.  
    "That's why you couldn't keep it," I noted, grinning at him. "She'd have been upset."  
    "Well, now that I know why he had it, it'd be okay."  
    "This one matches my slacks," Brian returned dryly.  
    Maddy laughed, yawning slightly. "You care if I go in my room and be antisocial?"  
    "Don't lie," I retorted. "You're going to call that...Amele or Amy, or...Andy or whatever her name is and squee at her that you danced with all the pretty boys."  
    "And got selfies with most of them," she agreed brightly.  
    I nodded at her. "Maybe try and take a bath. At least soak your feet."  
    She nodded, smiling brightly again.  
    And that left me to probably talk to both L and Brian. I definitely wanted to talk with L, but considering the blank confusion I was feeling that the sweater burned the vampire...well, I didn't want to talk to Brian. I didn't get that choice, of course, but...  
  
  
 ***L**  
    I woke up as the door to the room opened and saw Brian moving toward the bed with Ryan in tow. I wondered how much time had passed, rubbing at my face.  
    "You okay?" Brian asked, moving to sit on the foot of the bed.  
    I nodded, shoving myself up and realizing that my feet were starting to ache. With the assumption that we'd be out late, I'd brought an overnight bag, and I'd changed from the dress into comfy clothes when Kevin and Collin had finally left me alone.  
    I watched Ryan avoid looking at him, then looked to Brian myself.  
    "What...does it mean?" Bry asked quietly.  
    "I have no idea," Ryan rubbed at his face. "I'm not in love with you; don't start thinking that."  
    I snorted, looking between them. "What?"  
    "Nothing, it's stupid," Ryan muttered, turning and pulling cups out as he grabbed the bottle of whiskey we'd brought.  
    "It's not stupid, it's confusing," Brian retorted, looking back to me. "That vampire came up to me. I told him to go away, and he went to put a hand on my shoulder—it burned him."  
    I _stared_ at him.  
    "I'm not in love with him," Ryan snapped at us as he poured heavy shots into each cup.  
    "Thomas was telling me something about love," Brian retorted. "True love...and he said it wasn't romantic. He said that it has to be given and accepted, and he thought it was hilarious because it was his fault."  
    Ryan frowned, looking around to him.  
    "What did he say to you?"  
    "He asked if I loved you," Ryan sighed. "And I don't know what the fuck it even means. He could have been acting."  
    "He had burned skin," Brian sighed, taking his cup.  
    I took the one offered me, then shifted over so Ryan could sit next to me on the mattress. "Is the love of a mother and child true?" I asked them, feeling a bit better.  
    Unlike them, the idea didn't confuse me. I understood that Ryan cared, the twins had been making jokes about it every time he'd given Maddy her way the entire trip. He knew love, they'd insisted it. He also protected people. If you looked at it in an abstract way, he loved everyone he protected, right?  
    They shrugged slightly.  
    "Is the love between a brother and sister true?" I pressed, looking specifically to Ryan.  
    He shrugged again.  
    "Stop overthinking this," I urged. "It's simple. You both love me, right? Not even talking about romance and drama, just love, right?"  
    Brian sighed and nodded.  
    "And you love each other that same way; don't answer," I added when they both started to protest. "I'm not really asking. Honestly, you're both too male for your own good sometimes. Stop looking at love as sex."  
    Ryan's eyes flashed wickedly.  
    "Can I change my earlier answer, then?" Brian asked curiously.  
    I kicked at him.  
    He laughed, catching my foot and starting to massage it.  
    "Thanks," I sighed, leaning back against the headboard. "And...it is just us three. You know you rely on him," I wiggled my toes at Brian. "When something goes wrong, you want him there, right?"  
    "I don't want to agree with that," Brian complained.  
    "But it's just us and you're still wearing the love-sweater."  
    Ryan snickered, downing his drink.  
    "I guess," Brian made a face. "But if it's not...lust love, then how did it burn the lust demons?"  
    "I have no idea," I admitted. "I thought it had to be that sort of love, too."  
    "I remember someone saying it had to be pure," Ryan sighed. "And my mentor said that it was true, not pure...and I don't _love_ you, so I have no idea."  
    Brian smirked at him, then flopped out along the end of the bed.  
    There was a tap on the door.  
    Ryan rose and moved across the room, pulling it open to reveal Maddy with red cheeks as she moved to stand where she could see us.  
    "What?" Ryan asked, looking her over. "Why aren't you changed yet?"  
    "I just got a text from...from Dillon Thresher."  
    I sat up in disbelief. We'd all been introduced to him, but he hadn't taken my number.  
    "He said that he was having an after party and wanted me to come."  
    "No way in _hell_ ," Ryan noted seriously.  
    "I don't really want to go," she said quickly. "But isn't that mean? I mean...he's a star."  
    "He's also looking to get laid the fastest way possible," Brian pointed out, flopping over to look at her.  
    She nodded, typing quickly on her phone as Ryan moved back to pour himself some more alcohol. She waited a moment, then blinked.  
    "What is he saying?" I asked.  
    "I told him I'd ask my brother and he told me not to, that I could just go down to the casino floor and he'd pick me up."  
    "Tell him too late," Ryan suggested.  
    "I did," she retorted, glaring up at him. "He's telling me that it was stupid and he'll wait for me to sneak out. I mentioned I had my own room."  
    "Sweetie, were you trying to get picked up?" I asked dryly. "Don't tell guys you don't know about your sleeping arrangements."  
    Maddy giggled, typing again, then gasped.  
    "What?" Ryan turned to look at her.  
    "He's down there," she said in disbelief, turning to look at him. "He's here."  
    Ryan _smiled_ at her.  
    "Don't hurt him," Maddy ordered, stepping back against the wall so he had a clear path around her.  
    Ryan downed his second glass, leaning over to pick up his staff from the floor as he started into the hall. He did something with the staff so there was a thud across the hall.  
    "What's up?" Kevin or Collin demanded.  
    "Maddy has a suitor," Ryan supplied.  
    "Not the staff!" whichever twin protested, darting down the hall after him.  
    The other twin stopped in the door to look us over, then smiled at Maddy before following.  
    "Which one's which?" Brian asked blankly.  
    "That was Kev," Maddy blinked at us. "You can't tell them apart?"  
    I shook my head. "I scratched Kevin because they were tricking me, but the mark went away."  
    Maddy laughed happily, obviously listening. We all waited a couple minutes, but no sound carried up to us. She sighed considered us both as she swayed where she stood.  
    "Pull up an inch of mattress," Brian offered, indicating the free space on the bed. "We can't do the kinky, then, but..."  
    Maddy laughed delightedly, focusing on her phone as it started ringing. "Hello?" she asked, holding a finger up for us to wait.  
    I could hear someone talking to her from the other end.  
    "I told you I asked him and he said no," she protested, swaying more. "What? I don't know, I told him and he said..." she started laughing and ended the call.  
    "Isn't that fast for them to be ground-side?" Brian asked blankly.  
    "You...know he controls his body?" Maddy asked hesitantly. "I mean, Ry knows _ballet_ , and him and Kevin do all sorts of things, including free-running, so they can get down stairs damn fast. This is only the third floor, so..."  
    I stopped at the mental image her words provoked—unfortunately, it was of Ryan in a tutu. I forced the image away, looking back to Brian. "Josh said they were climbing from floor to floor last time."  
    Maddy's expression went curious. "Your sort of boyfriend is a sex demon?"  
    I _stared_ at her.  
    "Have you ever heard the word 'tact'?" Brian asked, making air quotes.  
    "Sorry," Maddy covered her mouth with one hand. "That was dumb."  
    I smiled sadly at her and shrugged. "We just sort of broke up, so...no."  
    Maddy drooped, moving immediately to hug me.  
    I nearly broke into tears at that, and we all turned to the door as we heard laughter.  
    "He scampered," Ryan noted happily as he came back into the room, flicking the staff around. It made me think of nunchucks, but it was only the staff.  
    "Time for an after-party?" one of the twins asked brightly as he stopped and looked Maddy over. "I guess not; you're not dressed right."  
    "I haven't changed either," Brian pointed out.  
    "The sweater counts as dressing down," the other promised. "Look, L has the idea."  
    I smirked at them.  
    "Do you think we could watch that show?" Ryan asked curiously as he moved to dig into his bag. "I mean, the three of us in one room might cause issues for the tv, but if we can start it, then put a circle around it, it might work. We can all curl up on the bed and I can figure out why you guys all watch it."  
    "Can we?" one of the twins asked, looking between Brian and I. "I'm pretty sure that you can fit on there, but I'm not even sure Maddy would after that."  
    Ryan snickered, then indicated the floor beyond. "Grab your extra pillows...from all the rooms. We can watch something if Maddy remembered her cord."  
    "I have it," she agreed happily, moving over to look at the tv. It was decently sized, even.  
    "So go change and get the cord," Ryan urged, unbuttoning the nice shirt, then pulling it off.  
    I was distracted entirely when he pulled the undershirt up...because he didn't quite have a six pack, but his muscles were well defined. I'd never seen him in less than a loose t-shirt, and the slacks were unbuttoned.  
    Brian hit my leg.  
    I jumped, looking down to him as he gestured slightly, and looked up to see the twins _smirking_ at me.  
    I started giggling, covering my face with my hands.  
    "What?" Ryan asked, pulling an under-shirt on as he looked between us all. "What's funny?"  
    "Alphabet girl was just drooling at your pecks," one of the twins supplied brightly with a wink at me. "He's all jumped up on adrenaline, too. Maybe Brian and Maddy should come with us...fifteen minutes good?"  
    Maddy was giggling hard as she darted from the room.  
    "I'm good," Brian reassured them, waving goodbye to them.  
    Ryan laughed wickedly, throwing one of the suit shirts over his face.  
    I giggled again, immediately wanting to comment on the love-sweater.  
    Ryan was watching my face...but Brian didn't bother moving, leaving the shirt over his face.  
    One of the twins started laughing, turning away.  
    "Fifteen minutes," the other winked at me.  
    "What are we going to do with the other ten?" Ryan asked blankly.  
    I _focused_ on him.  
    "Three for you and..." he trailed off.  
    Brian sat up and threw the shirt at him.  
    Ryan laughed, grabbing something and heading for the bathroom.  
    "Idiots," Brian complained, climbing off the bed and stripping off his shirts as well. He yawned as he moved to his own overnight bag.  
    "I can look at your chest without being called on it," I informed him happily. "I met you with your shirt off."  
    "And no boxers," he agreed happily.  
    I grinned at him, then indicated the sweater with my head.  
    He frowned as he considered it, then shook his head with a shrug. "I'm not sure what to make of it, really. Thomas said it had to be given and taken...I'm keeping it anyway."  
    "You heard him," I agreed, glancing toward the bathroom as Ryan came out and stretched with his arms straight in the air.  
    "I'm changing," Brian glanced briefly at me, then headed into the bathroom as well.  
    "So you do ballet?" I asked the wizard skeptically.  
    He blinked at me with his hand still stretched toward the ceiling...and did a little dance, or at least a few steps of one, complete with pointed toes.  
    I started giggling hard.  
    "You know they have football players do ballet sometimes because it helps with footwork, right?" he asked curiously, situating himself and bending forward to touch the ground with his palms.  
    "Yoga, ballet, martial arts, and free running?" I asked brightly. "How's your stamina?"  
    He laughed wickedly, straightening to look at me.  
    "I feel better," Brian sighed as he moved from the bathroom as well, tossing his suit onto the dresser by his bag. He had the sweater back on, and he smirked between us. "What'd I miss?"  
    "Her hitting on me," Ryan returned easily. "You should go check on my sister."  
    The reaction to the words wasn't amusement, jealousy, or anything I expected. Brian's smile fell as he studied Ryan's face, then looked away.  
    Ryan stopped, considering him with interest.  
    "That...didn't look right, did it?" Brian muttered, focusing on me.  
    "What were you thinking?" I asked, blinking at him. "Honestly."  
    Brian fidgeted briefly, gesturing toward the wall to Maddy's room. "It's just..."  
    Ryan's eyes _lit_ up. They almost seemed to be glowing as he started laughing, turning and shoving Brian at the door. "Go check on her! Go!"  
    Brian tried to protest that, but Ryan actually got him out the door and closed it.  
    I started giggling hard, shifting to the end of the bed to _look_ at the wizard. He made a hushing gesture as he listened, and I realized there actually was a knock from the hall.  
    Ryan snickered, opening the door and putting the latch out to keep it open, bouncing back to join me happily.  
    "What...was that?" I asked skeptically.  
    "I've introduced Maddy to a few friends of mine," Ryan shrugged. "She usually notices and freaks out at me. I'm not sure they'd be compatible long term, but I like Brian so it's worth a shot, right?"  
    I _stared_ at him.  
    "You don't think so?" he protested, situating himself at the foot of the bed carefully so he was facing the door. "I thought it was at least worth a moment of attention."  
    I snorted, realizing what he'd been about the entire time. I'd wondered, really. I knew she liked him, and he seemed to like her...and Ryan went into some sort of routine.  
    I blinked as I watched him going through a slow motion...dance thing. He jumped at the end of the path. He leaned backwards and flipped a few times, then nearly hit the tv-table and swore.  
    "Use the hall, idiot," one of the twins noted from the door. "Col is already doing his."  
    "Doing his?" I asked blankly, considering Kevin in confusion.  
    "Forms," he supplied, then gestured at me with a gold watch on one wrist. "I'll try to wear this so you can tell us apart."  
    "Until you get bored and want to tease," Ryan retorted. "Soul-gaze her, then she'll know."  
    Kevin flashed me a grin, then disappeared into the hall.  
    I followed Ryan to the door, noticing that Collin was doing flips at one end, then blinked as Kevin started doing the same thing Ryan had been.  
    Okay, then.  
    "Show me!" Maddy bounced out of the room in long pants and a half-buttoned shirt. She had a cami under it, and passed her phone and some cords into Brian's hands as she moved to stand next to Ryan, watching him intently as he...started over again, slowly.  
    Brian blinked, looking around to me as she attempted to imitate him.  
    "We're not on the ground floor," I pointed out, watching as Kevin landed something that looked like a kick.  
    "We'll be at it a few minutes," Kevin reassured us.  
    "Set it up?" Maddy asked Brian curiously as Ryan did the backflips again. She was evidently not going to try them.  
    Brian smiled at her, rolled his eyes to me, then moved into the room.  
    I watched the males a moment longer, then turned to follow. "I thought he was just showing off for me," I noted to Brian as I climbed back on the bed.  
    "I thought he was, too," Brian smirked at me. "We saw you looking at him. I sort of wish he'd had the low-rise pants; you wouldn't have looked away."  
    I snickered slightly. "Don't call me on that, or I'll tell the twins about the love-sweater."  
    "Deal," he said quickly, then grinned at me.  
    I grinned back at him, and he went back to setting up the tv.  



	6. Chapter 6

#### Chapter Six

***Josh**  
    Thomas didn't seem to care particularly about my depression, and for some reason he'd latched onto me as soon as he'd arrived in the city—or, at least, Justine had. They had me take them all over the place, and I had to admit that my uncle was sort of fun...not that he knew he was my uncle.  
    I wished he'd left me out this time, as we wandered through a mall and Justine bought whatever she decided was even slightly cute.  
    "I'm going to do something else," Thomas noted happily, patting my shoulder and walking off.  
    I watched him go.  
    "You can't leave me," Justine smirked.  
    "I know," I sighed, smiling slightly at her.  
    "What's wrong?" she asked quietly, grabbing a shirt and considering her reflection in the mirror.  
    "Nothing, sorry," I muttered. "I'm a bit tired."  
    "Hungry?" she asked curiously.  
    I blinked, meeting her eyes.  
    She hung the shirt back up, grabbing the one next to it. "Thomas will tell you that avoiding your hunger is terrible," she noted. "Don't resist it, that will only hurt people in the end."  
    I looked away from her, shaking my head.  
    "Conversely," she noted, "over indulging it isn't any good either. You don't want to be a walking cock, right?"  
    I _choked_ on that, looking up to her in disbelief.  
    She smiled at me, amusement in her eyes.  
    "It's not that," I muttered, rubbing at the back of my neck briefly. "I was doing that for a while, but...it's not that."  
    "What was going on with those friends?" she pressed. "That girl?"  
    "You don't already know?" I asked dryly, sitting on the edge of a mannequin pedestal.  
    "I have a few educated guesses," she admitted. "But you're obviously upset, and you left the party early."  
    I sighed, rubbing at my face. "I love that girl," I admitted, realizing that Justine hadn't called her a doe. "We...I've been with her once."  
    "And?"  
    "And it was a year ago," I sighed, looking away.  
    "And she still burns you?" Justine turned to study me seriously. "You know how to remedy that, right?"  
    "She considers having sex with more than one person being a slut," I snapped. "The conversation doesn't go anywhere good."  
    "Doesn't she want to be with you?" Justine gave me a sad look.  
    I looked away from her, rising.  
    "Don't," she muttered, reaching for me and pulling her hand back quickly.  
    I blinked, looking around to her.  
    "Don't leave," she said seriously, gesturing for me to follow her further into the store. "I'm sorry, I'm trying to understand."  
    "There's nothing left," I noted. "We sort of...we talked last night."  
    "Talked...as in...broke up?" she asked.  
    I shrugged noncommittally.  
    She sighed, stopping to stare blankly at a rack. "So what do those wizards have to do with anything? That bartender?"  
    "I told you I've been sulking and avoiding them. The wizards don't have a way to contact me, but the other two did. I pointed out that I didn't want to have sex with the bartender and he finally stopped trying to talk to me."  
    She gave me a perplexed look.  
    "He's straight," I shrugged.  
    "That's an asshole kind of wall," she pointed out.  
    I tilted my head at her. "Literally?"  
    She _guffawed_ at me, smacking toward me without touching my skin.  
    She'd been avoiding touching me all morning. The previous days she'd hugged me and draped all over me, but today...  
    She picked up another shirt, looking in the mirror...and I reached over to grab her wrist.  
    It _burned_.  
    "Oh!" she protested, yanking back. "Josh!"  
    I stared at her in complete shock as I shook my hand out, considering her hair again as I realized...Thomas had done it. For some reason Thomas had nearly killed her; he still loved her.  
    ...but she could touch me the other days?  
    "Are you okay?" she protested, obviously hesitant to do anything more. "I'm sorry..."  
    "Can you talk to L?" I asked, my heart starting to pound hard in my chest. "You will, please?"  
    She studied me, then hung the shirt she'd picked up back down. "I don't know if she'll be willing to hear me out," she noted quietly.  
    "But...you can try?" I asked, swallowing hard.  
    "Fine," she agreed quietly. "But I can't make you any promises."  
  
  
 ***Brian**  
    "Good morning," Gable greeted me with a wide smile as he moved into his office. "You look tired."  
    "We were up late," I shrugged. "How did the party go after I left? I'm sorry about that."  
    "The party went very well," he reassured me happily, sitting at the desk and setting a cup in front of me.  
    I hadn't noticed he'd been carrying two, and I inhaled the coffee with a sigh.  
    "The party ended at around three," he went on, opening the newspaper as he sipped his cup. "I even found a pretty woman to couple with."  
    I nearly spat out my coffee at that, blinking at him.  
    He flashed me his naughty smirk. "One of the models. It was quite fulfilling."  
    "I'm glad for you," I noted, starting to laugh a little as I drank more from my cup.  
    "Were you lucky?" he asked happily. "I imagine the emotional state of your entire group could have aligned to circumstances."  
    I started laughing harder, shaking my head. "No, no...we watched three seasons of the show Illegitimate before I remembered that you wanted me in today. It was...three hours ago, I think. I slept two."  
    "Ah, unfortunate," he shook his head, then grinned more at me. "Well, I have a few meetings this morning, drink the coffee. Is it rude of me to ask if you have makeup?"  
    I blinked at him, then pressed my eyes closed. I hadn't even thought about what I'd look like after a night like that. "Um...I think I have a kit in the car," I muttered, pushing myself up.  
    "Coffee first," he urged. "And I'll ask Hoc to figure out the details if you don't have it."  
    "Thanks," I sighed, standing and drinking the coffee down. "I'm sorry about this, last night was fun until the end."  
    "The fact that you made it in today at all speaks highly for you," he reassured me, gesturing.  
    I turned and headed through the building.  
    "I can have a makeup person here in ten minutes," Hoc noted, following me out of the building toward my car.  
    "Did he already message you?" I asked blankly as I dug into my trunk.  
    "No, but I saw how you looked when you got in this morning," he grinned at me. "You have a good night?"  
    "It started fine, then fell into a fire."  
    "Hot sex?" he asked hesitantly.  
    I blinked, looking around to him and shaking my head.  
    "What do you mean, then?" he asked, starting to do something on his phone.  
    "I mean the white court prince started the night off by terrifying the living shit out of me, Josh was going to feed on Maddy, L and Josh broke up, and I ran off like a bitch."  
    He sobered entirely, meeting my eyes.  
    "The beginning of the night was great, even after that Raith scared me," I rubbed at my face as I found my makeup kit. "Do you know anything about...about the whites?"  
    "A bit," he conceded, tilting his head at me. "Why?"  
    "Ryan gave me this sweater," I supplied, pointing at the thing. "It burned that prince when he patted my shoulder."  
    Hoc's eyes went through a series of amused expressions as he tried to control his smirk.  
    "It's not like that, obviously," I retorted, slamming my trunk closed...and groaning as I realized I'd set my keys down.  
    "What?" he asked, blinking at me.  
    I moved around the car and yanked the front door opened, then let out a breath and popped the trunk...or tried to. I pulled the lever again, feeling panic in my chest...before the lever finally gave and the trunk cracked back open.  
    That could not be good...damn wizards.  
    I closed the door and moved around to pull my keys out.  
    Hoc smirked at me.  
    I slammed the trunk closed again, moving to lock the car again and rubbing at my face.  
    I was so damn _tired_.  
    "So...what do you mean it's obviously not like that?" Hoc muttered as we started back for the building. "No one here will judge you for love."  
    "That's just it," I retorted. "I'm straight, and he says he is."  
    Hoc tilted his head thoughtfully at me, then shrugged. "That's the one Gable gazed, right? He said that he was power and protection. The core of his being was protection. Why shouldn't that protection transfer to you from the item he gave you? He's willing to protect you with his life, right?"  
    "I guess," I muttered, feeling a little better about the whole thing. It made sense coming from Hoc.  
    "And if it turns out that he's not straight," Hoc smirked at me, "he looks the sort who knows what he's doing no matter what it is."  
    I narrowed my eyes at him.  
    Hoc laughed, naughty and delighted, turning into his office.  
    I moved up the stairs, showing the bottle of makeup to Gable when he looked up to me. I ducked into the bathroom, studying my tired face, then leaned forward to wash. I wasn't sure if the color matched my skin tone anymore, I hadn't used makeup since getting hired at Secrets—that crap from Ethan didn't really count.  
    Well, I didn't have a lot of time to figure this out, I had work to do.  
  
  
 ***Ryan**  
    I felt _good_.  
    L was curled into my side, sleeping deeply. I was pretty sure she wasn't going to be so thrilled about the sex when she woke up, no matter how much she'd enjoyed it, but I was going to take my few moments of contentment.  
    Kevin and Collin had disappeared down to the bar after the first season of the show, and Maddy and L had been fully enjoying the ridiculous drama of it. Brian had been amused, but I wasn't sure...if I was horrified or just bored. The two pretty male actors that Maddy had been thrilled to meet were the main characters. The legitimate son hadn't realized that the illegitimate son was his half-brother, though the illegitimate son knew and hated the legitimate son throughout high school.  
    For one, the legitimate son was _rich_. His parents would have put him in a private school...for another, the college they'd both gotten into was too expensive and the show didn't seem to imply that the illegitimate son was actually smart enough to get a full scholarship.  
    ...and that was only the beginning of the plot problems.  
    The first season had culminated with them both getting into that college, which included the illegitimate son using his father's name to squeeze himself in. The second season had gone on and on with the illegitimate son being spiteful at the legitimate one, and the season had culminated with the legitimate son finding out that they were half-brothers. The third season had been the pair going back and forth at each other like toddlers, and had culminated with the illegitimate son saving the legitimate son's life...something about ransom and the father. I'd honestly fallen asleep through that climax and had only woken up when Maddy had climbed into my lap.  
    Brian had bailed at that point, and Maddy had pushed on with the fourth season, which she adored...where both sons came to an understanding and vented their angst from the roof of an apartment on a moonlit night with a glowing skyline stretching behind them. They'd both realized that their life problems were nearly exactly the same, and the legitimate son had been heartbreakingly grateful that his brother had saved his life.  
    I still had a couple bruises when I noted that incest shouldn't be on television. Neither female understood how I could even think that was what was going on, and I'd made something up about an unaired episode; my sister was adorable when incensed, and come to find out so was L.  
    I grinned, pulling the covers up around L's shoulders carefully as I sat up.  
    The fourth season had culminated with the legitimate son's mother hearing rumors that her husband had a second son, and the illegitimate son had saved his father a divorce at the behest of his brother...something about divorce and bankruptcy.  
    I wanted to see the fifth season, and it killed me.  
    I moved into the bathroom, starting to shower.  
    Maddy had fallen asleep in my lap during the first episode of the fifth season, and I'd sent her to bed. I'd discussed the show and the actors with L for a while as we lay down, and...I still wasn't sure if I'd kissed her or she kissed me.  
    The bathroom door opened, and I turned to blink as I waited for Kevin or Maddy to complain at me about something.  
    "Hey," L muttered as she moved to the counter.  
    "Hey, you alright?" I asked, trying to see her through the frosted glass door.  
    "Feelin' pretty good," she noted in amusement. "I shouldn't have questioned your stamina."  
    I snickered at that.  
    "I should head home," she sighed.  
    "Or you could stay," I protested, feeling a little letdown at the idea. After the last year of our lives, I was a little stung that she was just going to leave. I didn't actually expect a relationship, but that didn't mean I was going to just let it go.  
    "I feel...like shit," she muttered.  
    "I'm sorry," I said tiredly, leaning against the wall. "I guess that was shitty, I should have..."  
    "I mean I feel actually sick," she cut me off. "Like sore throat and aching joints."  
    I blinked.  
    She slid the shower door open to tilt her head at me, naked. She stepped in and turned to slide it closed again, moving to stand in the water.  
    I blinked at her.  
    "What?" she asked, turning to lean into my chest. "We can have the you're-an-ass conversation if you want to, but you can't tell me that anyone would be remotely surprised by that."  
    "I'm still processing that you're not leaving," I offered.  
    She bit my chest, smirking up at me.  
    I grinned back at her, reaching over to adjust the nozzle so it was hitting us better...and she bit me again.  
    Alright, then.  
  
  
 ***L**  
    The day started out _very_ slowly, and I couldn't help but enjoy it. I didn't feel good, I felt heavy and a little swollen, but it was nice to have Ryan to curl into. It took a while for Maddy to actually come over, and when she did she was on about how Gable had posted up at least three pictures of her with the various stars. She'd gotten her friends to look at the site to prove she'd been at that party, and she was still arguing with one of them about Dillon Thrasher trying to get her to go to the after-party.  
    I was a little embarrassed, actually, though I'd made the bed as soon as she'd come into the room. She seemed oblivious at first, and after a while of chattering at us, she looked up to Ryan.  
    "You talk too much," he noted.  
    She stared at him as her cheeks started to flush, then looked around to me and burst into genuine giggles.  
    Ryan laughed and shoved at her with her foot. "Grow up!"  
    "You got laid!" she declared, falling over where she was laying to laugh, pulling out her phone.  
    "Do _not_ text your little girlfriends that," he warned, reaching for the phone...it succeeded in getting her to slide off the bed on my side, laughing harder as she turned and darted from the room.  
    Ryan snickered.  
    I laughed, covering my own face in embarrassment.  
    "She's telling Kevin," he noted dryly as there was a knock on a door in the hall.  
    "Why?" I asked blankly, hearing it open and Maddy starting to giggle again.  
    "Because she's a brat, I think," Ryan noted, ruffling my hair and kissing me briefly before climbing off the bed. "Hold on."  
    I moved to follow him, leaning out the door as Maddy tried to compose herself and speak to Kevin.  
    Kevin was wearing pajama pants, and only pajama pants; it was obvious with how they were sitting on his hips. It was barely decent. He was blinking at the girl in a way that suggested he'd only just woken up, and he looked up across the hall to us before smirking.  
    I rolled my eyes.  
    ...a woman appeared behind him, tall and Asian. She had on a pair of slacks, heels, and was buttoning up a shirt. She leaned over to kiss Kevin gently, then gave Maddy a blank look. She noticed us, then stared directly back at Ryan as she strutted down the hall.  
    "Hm," he muttered approvingly.  
    I swatted him.  
    "You look just as good," he protested immediately.  
    "You feel good?" Kevin asked me happily as Collin poked his head out the door to look at us all in confusion.  
    Maddy turned and shoved her head into his room before breaking into outright laughter. She spun and disappeared into her own room.  
    "What?" I asked blankly.  
    "I'll find you when my meeting is over," a pretty dark skinned woman muttered to Collin, kissing him as she slid into heels, turning to blink at the rest of us. Her happy expression disappeared.  
    It was another one of the models, one of the ones who did Victoria's Secret shows. Actually, so was the one Kev had been with.  
    "Have a good morning," Ryan suggested happily.  
    The woman frowned between us and Kevin, then turned and walked off.  
    "Why did you wake me up?" Collin demanded of us.  
    Ryan indicated me with his thumb. "Maddy was gossiping."  
    "Are we supposed to be surprised?" Kevin asked blankly.  
    "I think she expected you to be," Ryan agreed. "I'm starving; we should go find a breakfast place."  
    "Let me get dressed," Kevin agreed, disappearing.  
    "You alright?" Collin asked me seriously.  
    I shrugged slightly, nodding. I was having an internal struggle, though. I wanted to find Josh and see if I was protected or not...but I didn't want to just walk away from Ryan.  
    Collin seemed to understand that, shrugging slightly at me before he turned back into his room and stopped.  
    A second woman moved out past him, wearing a slinky little dress as she lifted the hair off the nape of her neck. She was darker skinned than the first woman, and the dress accentuated every curve of her body. She was wearing six inch heels, and she was _exuding_ contented sexuality.  
    I _stared_ at her.  
    She turned to looking me over with a slightly smoldering glance, made an interested face as she looked Ryan over, then strutted off as she fiddled with the back-hem of her skirt.  
    " _Damn_ ," Ryan muttered, blinking.  
    Collin started cackling and shut the door behind himself.  
    "Damn?" I asked, looking around to him.  
    Ryan started laughing, pulling me into his chest before kissing me again as the door swung shut.  
    "That's what I thought," I noted, but avoided his next kiss. "I'm seriously getting sick."  
    "I have an overpowered immune system," he promised, trying to kiss me again.  
    "You _just_ made plans for us to go eat," I complained, backing away from him, though I was amused.  
    "They'll understand if we run behind," he protested.  
    I snorted at him, then turned to get my shoes and socks on.  
  
  
 ***Brian**  
    When Thomas Raith showed up for an impromptu meeting with Gable, I felt flutterings of anxiety. I had to walk him from the front of the building up to the meeting room, which meant we'd be alone through the hallways.  
    "You don't have your sweater on," he noted happily as we started up the stairs.  
    I swallowed, not responding. I could feel a hint of coldness coming off of him, but I wasn't entirely sure that wasn't just in my imagination. Of all the male whites I'd dealt with, most of them had teased or threatened me, the only one who'd actually grabbed me had been Ethan.  
    "You talk to your wizard?" Thomas asked me wickedly as we headed for the office door. "Have an interesting conversation?"  
    I ignored that as well, tapping on the door and pushing into the room.  
    Gable seemed almost nonplussed to be presented with a thank-you gift from Thomas and Justine. He dug out two of the little boxes of expensive things he had in his desk for that sort of occasion and gave them in return. They talked formally and politely for a few moments before Thomas excused himself.  
    I frowned to Gable, who shrugged slightly back at me as we started away. He didn't seem to have any more an idea what Thomas was doing than I did. I led the vampire back down the stairs, and stopped near the entrance with the polite words of dismissal I always used.  
    "Come with me," he grabbed my wrist and pulled me from the house.  
    I could hear someone moving fast from the sitting room, and decided to give Arkady the chance to reach us before trying to run.  
    "Don't tell him what Justine asked you," Thomas ordered me, leaning forward with a silver sheen to his eyes.  
    I could hear the velvet in his voice, and tried to yank away as an undirected sensation of need passed through me. I wanted to lean into him, to see how cold his skin was...I couldn't pull away, digging the nails of my right hand into his wrist.  
    "Do _not_ tell them what Justine said," Thomas persisted. "And call Josh. He thinks you hate him."  
    When the sensation changed enough that I nearly caressed his wrist, panic bloomed in my chest. I started trying to yank away, knowing that there was no way I could.  
    Arkady moved from the house, to my side in a heartbeat. He grabbed Thomas' wrist as he tilted his head at the vampire.  
    Thomas' eyes _flashed_ , but he didn't jerk away. His hand went tight as his muscles tensed, but he stared directly back at Arkady. He huffed as he finally yanked himself free, shaking his wrist out before turning back to us. I slid behind Arkady, too tired to think beyond getting that protection.  
    "We are not impressed," Arkady noted in a serious voice as he stared directly back at the vampire.  
    Thomas smiled wickedly at him, then turned and strutted to his waiting car.  
    "You alright?" Arkady demanded when Thomas had closed the door, turning to grab my arm and stare at me. "Did he hurt you?"  
    I shook my head, realizing I was trembling.  
    "What was that?" Hoc demanded, coming out pull-through as well, he was watching as the car turned onto the road.  
    "He was telling me to call Josh," I supplied, looking between the pair. "He said...he said Josh thinks I hate him."  
    They exchanged a look, then frowned at me.  
    "With...silver eyes," I supplied, blinking a few more times. I felt...weak. I felt weak, vulnerable, and tired.  
    Hoc huffed, turning to open the door to the house.  
    "I'll take him up," Arkady muttered.  
    "No, get his sweater," Hoc returned, digging into his pants pocket and pulling out my car keys.  
    I stared at that. I'd left them with my stuff in his office, sure...  
    "I saw the white and realized you'd probably need it," he explained, passing the keys to Arkady. "Come on, up to Gable."  
    I nodded, turning into the house. I led my friend up the stairs dazedly, realizing I was still shaking as I moved into the office.  
    Gable stood immediately, his eyes flashing with fury.  
    "He told the lad to call the young vampire," Hoc supplied. "With silver eyes."  
    Gable let out a growl as he moved around and pulled me possessively to his chest.  
    Arkady appeared a moment later, passing me the sweater Ryan had given me. I took it and pulled it on, leaning into Gable as my world stopped feeling so delicate.  
    "Are you alright?" Hoc asked seriously.  
    Arkady moved to my side, passing me a cup of tea.  
    I nodded at them, relaxing again. I hadn't been hit by the white's powers in at least six months. I wasn't so sure this wasn't an overreaction because they were all catering to me.  
    "I don't think I can eat him," Gable noted thoughtfully. "The younger one, yes, but even with the distress their friendship hasn't ended. The girl, but that would be needless. I'm not sure I could actually outfight that one, though."  
    "He is the one that runs around causing havoc in Chicago," Hoc agreed.  
    Gable made an unhappy noise.  
    "Let it go," I said, swallowing as I stood again. "It's not worth it. He's worried about Josh; I wish he'd have just asked me to call him instead of...of _that_ ," I studied my throbbing wrist. "But..."  
    Gable made an unhappy noise again. "I don't like that you're this upset."  
    "I'm alright," I reassured him quickly. "It was a shock to feel it is all. It's not...not worth fighting for."  
    "But you are," Hoc said quietly as he studied me. "You are worth fighting for."  
    I had no idea what to say to that, focusing on my cup.  
    They continued discussing what to do in retribution, and Hoc finally looked down to his phone. It had started vibrating in his pocket.  
    "Oh, six hours," he muttered, looking up to me. "Your shift is over."  
    I smiled slightly at that.  
    "It's my bedtime alarm," Gable corrected, squeezing me. "You alright? You want to stay here?"  
    "I don't want to admit it, but I'd rather go find Ryan," I admitted.  
    "Why not admit that?" Gable asked blankly. "We know he's a protector you rely on."  
    "The sweater provides him protection from the whites," Hoc shrugged. "The fact that it's a gift of love unnerves him."  
    Gable blinked at that, then thought a moment. "But that makes sense, doesn't it?" he looked to Arkady. "The young wizard is a steadfast shield for his friends."  
    "It has to do with young people self-identifying," Arkady shrugged.  
    Gable nodded, looking back to me. "I suggest you bring the sweater with us for a while. Once we figure out how much an issue the whites will be to you, we can make other arrangements. I suggest the easiest thing you can do is to find a true lover, though."  
    "I wish it was that easy," I retorted, rubbing at my face and digging out my phone. "Was that everything you needed today?"  
    "As long as you have your phone tonight," Gable agreed. "Enjoy yourself."  
    I smiled at him, then the others, turning and heading for the kitchen to put my cup in the sink. I texted Maddy to see where the others were as I went, then stopped when Hoc met me at the door.  
    "These might help," he noted, passing me my car keys.  
    "Thanks," I muttered dryly, glancing at my phone as Maddy gave me an address.  
    "Oh, and this."  
    I took the...chocolate...from Hoc, blinking at him.  
    He smiled at me, disappearing back into his office.  
    I grinned, popping the thing into my mouth and clicking the address so my map program popped up. The route it suggested was ridiculous...but I knew that location.  
  
  
 ***Ryan**  
    I hadn't realized Brian worked in the morning or I'd have avoided the tv marathon. I felt bad that he'd only had two hours of sleep, and a bit furious with Thomas Raith. Brian wouldn't have told Bui about Justine's offer because Justine seemed genuinely nice. It was messed up that Thomas had swooped down on him like that.  
    I, personally, wasn't sure how Brian had been able to tell us about it, since Thomas had told him not to tell the others about the stupid doe—good lord, I was labeling her a doe.  
    I sighed as I seethed. Brian was leaning into my side, he'd eaten my pancakes while he spoke, and had fairly promptly fallen asleep as he leaned into me. Maddy was grilling Kevin and Collin about white court vampires, and L was leaning into my other side.  
    She was tired, too.  
    I smirked at my coffee cup, leaning carefully forward to refill it. Maddy was taking her time eating, and we really had no other plans for the day. I was certain she'd find something that she wanted to do when she'd satisfied her curiosity, but I was of half a mind to take my two snuggle-buddies back to the hotel.  
    But that would leave Maddy with Kevin and Collin.  
    I smirked again  
    "I see you," Maddy informed me, smirking as she met my eyes. "I see you smirking at your cup."  
    I started laughing as the others actually looked around to me. "Weighing my options," I supplied, glancing at Kevin.  
    "Good idea," Kevin retorted as Brian sat up in confusion. "Let's do that."  
    "What are we doing?" Brian asked blankly, rubbing hard at his face.  
    "Me and Collin are gonna run off with...how did he say it?" Kev looked to Col. "The kit?"  
    "Ryan's kit," Collin agreed happily.  
    Maddy looked between them, then back to me.  
    I smirked at her.  
    "I'm pretty sure that conversation needed subtitles," L informed us, blinking a bit.  
    Kevin started laughing, gesturing for Maddy to slide out of the booth. "Don't worry about it. You lot go nap and we'll keep Maddy entertained."  
    Maddy's eyes _lit_ up, and she focused on me again, then on Brian.  
    I saw blooms of color on her cheeks and rolled my eyes. "Madeline Halgar, do _not_ take what any of them say at face value."  
    She burst into delighted laughter, bouncing out of the bench seat and turning to bounce across the restaurant.  
    "What?" Brian asked blankly as the twins followed her.  
    "She realized we had sex this morning," I supplied, rolling my eyes as I downed the last of my coffee cup. "She decided that Kevin was just suggesting a threesome."  
    Brian turned his head to _look_ at me.  
    "Shoulda held out longer," L suggested brightly as she slid out of the booth the long way.  
    "Yeah, because _that_ would have worked," I retorted.  
    L laughed a _lot_ like my sister had been as she turned and stumbled across the restaurant toward the bathrooms.  
    "How did you manage that?" Brian asked blankly.  
    "I've got swagger," I retorted dryly, then gave him a long look.  
    "What?" he asked, frowning at me as he tried to avoid looking directly into my eyes.  
    "I have to pay the bill," I retorted. "We're leaving."  
    "Oh," he started laughing, finally sliding out of the booth as well. "I'm sorry, I'm just exhausted."  
    "No worries," I reassured him. "My current plan consists of going back to the hotel. L isn't feeling good, I think she's getting sick."  
    He nodded, slowing as we reached the register.  
    It didn't take too long to pay, and L fell into step with us as we headed into the day's heat and sun.  
    We headed back through town until we reached the hotel, and I led the pair back up to our room without too much chatter. Brian immediately curled up on the bed, and L gave me an amused look.  
    "Can you run that show through your phone?" I asked her curiously, considering the cord that my sister had left plugged into the tv. "I can watch the last season."  
    Her eyes _sparkled_ , and she turned to set it up for me.  
    The day wasn't all that exciting for me, though I did end up napping in the chair a bit. Brian was dead to the world, and L did eventually nap. It took about four of the episodes before anything stirred, and that was Brian sitting up with a yawn.  
    He blinked at the show, then bounced over and hit a button.  
    "Hey," I protested.  
    "I haven't seen this far yet," he supplied happily.  
    L sat up slowly to look between us.  
    There was a strange sort of buzzing rumble from the bed, and I stood, grabbing my staff as my mind went through my catalogue of creatures that could be here...  
    "What's up?" Brian asked blankly, moving back to the bed and pulling out his phone.  
    I snorted, rubbing at my face as I dropped down into my seat again. "I didn't recognize the sound."  
    Brian looked to L a moment, then shrugged. "Maddy wants to know when we're coming to meet them. I guess they tried to take her into a strip club."  
    I started laughing.  
    "I need to head home," L sighed. "I have some homework due tonight...but I'll come back over tomorrow."  
    I sighed and nodded.  
    She moved around the bed and kissed me, cradling my face a moment as she studied my eyes.  
    Brian and I watched her go as he flopped onto the bed, and he looked back to me with a slight frown when the door had closed.  
    I shrugged in response, knowing what he meant. As much as I could dive into a relationship with the woman, Josh was not relegated to her past. Their breakup was far from set in stone, and I couldn't help but wonder if I had finally broken that protection on her...if I had, Josh would probably reassert it before I realized they were together again...and that was not a happy thought.  
    "Well," Brian sighed slowly. "What do we tell Maddy?"  
    "Do you want to go meet up with them?" I asked, blinking. "At this point I'm dependent on you for a ride."  
    He smiled slightly at me. "I was planning to run around with you today, if only because I'm pretty sure the Raith bastard will focus on you over me."  
    I snorted at him, wondering if that was actually true. I made a face finally, gesturing. "Tell her we'll meet them in that club."  
    "In that strip club?" he asked dryly. "You serious?"  
    "No, but she's my little sister," I grinned at him. "She'll know I don't mean it and either go off on us or agree sweetly. It depends on if they've bugged her or not."  
    Brian snorted, starting to type.  
    I tilted my head at him.  
    "You still have your key to Secrets?" he asked me, his teeth gleaming whitely.  
    "It's in my duffel," I agreed, rolling my eyes. I'd forgotten I had the thing in my bag, so it'd been there since our last trip to Vegas. "She might take you up on that offer, you know."  
    His phone actually started ringing, and he was already laughing as he answered.  



End file.
